


Violent Delights

by atheistj



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, villain!Ward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:27:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 29
Words: 82,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3933298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atheistj/pseuds/atheistj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ward escapes SHIELD he becomes hell bent on revenge against Skye and the team. He is willing to use any means necessary to make Skye and the team suffer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sinner

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this because everything Ward did after he escaped at the beginning of season 2 bored me. So I wrote this, which is what could have happened and actually been entertaining. I hope you like it.

Ward had never been religious, his parents might have forced a Catholic upbringing on him, but he was never a believer. So standing in front of St. Agnes in New York City, a Catholic orphanage filled with nuns, turned his stomach, reminding him of when he was forced to pray before every meal and to go to church every Sunday. As if any of that bullshit made a difference. But he needed to be here; it was a means to an end.

 

He walked up the steps and knocked on the front door. After a few moments, a young woman answered, a nun. She smiled warmly at him, “Hello, sir. How can I help you?”

 

Ward smiled. “Good morning, m a’am. I’m Officer Turner with the NYPD,” he showed her his badge that had been stored in one of his many drop off points in bus and train stations. “May I come in?”

 

His introduction made her nervous, but still cooperative. “Yes, of course,” she said as she opened the door to let him step inside. As she closed the door behind him she said, “Is everything alright? Did something happen?”

 

“Everything is fine, you have no reason to worry,” Ward reassured her. “Though I do need to speak with one of your sisters about someone who used to stay in your orphanage. Is there a Sister McKenna here?”

 

The nun looked relieved. “Yes, there is. She’s been here longer than any of us. Shall I bring you to her office?”

 

“That would be perfect,” Ward said with a smile. “And I didn’t catch your name.”

 

“Oh, my apologies, Officer. I’m Sister Ellis,” she said warmly. She reached out to shake his hand.

 

Ward took her hand and shook. “It’s nice to meet you.”

 

“Her office is this way,” Sister Ellis said when he released her hand, and she led him down a hallway. As they passed, he noticed a few children walking by. Some very young, a few that could be pre teens. They reached the door at the end of the hall and Sister Ellis knocked.

 

“Yes?” came a voice from inside.

 

Sister Ellis cracked the door open and stuck her head in. Ward couldn’t see inside. “Sister McKenna? I’m sorry to disturb you,” Sister Ellis said. “But we have an officer here who says he needs to speak with you about someone who stayed here before.”

 

“Let him in. Thank you, Sister Ellis,” was the response.

 

Sister Ellis turned around and smiled at Ward. “Go right on in.”

 

Ward smiled back. “Thank you for your help.”

 

Sister Ellis walked back down the hall and Ward opened the door to Sister McKenna’s office. She was sitting at her desk going through some papers; she didn’t look up at him as he entered. She was an older woman with a stern face, probably in her seventies. Clearly she had been here for a long time.

 

Ward approached her and cleared his throat to get her attention. “Good morning, ma’am. I’m Officer Turner, I could use your help.”

 

She looked up at that. “Hello, Officer. I understand you want to ask about someone who we’ve had here before.”

 

“Yes, I do. It may be difficult to find her though. I don’t know her real name, only the one she goes by as an adult.”

 

“Well, I’ll do my best to help you. Tell me what you know about her. I may be able to remember. I’ve been here for over thirty years.”

 

That gave Ward some optimism. “She’s about 25 now. She would have come to you as a baby.”

 

“Long time ago…” Sister McKenna said under her breath, but she looked like she was thinking.

 

Ward continued, “She would have been in and out a lot. Families would take her in and then send her back. She never stayed with one family for more than a few months. That can’t be very common, can it?”

 

“You’d be surprised, though that does narrow it down. Do you have anything else on her?”

 

Ward’s hope was starting to deflate. “I only know the name she goes by now, but it’s not the name she got when she was here,” Ward said. “Skye.”

 

Sister McKenna looked up at the name. For a moment, she stared at him silently, then, “Mary,” she said.

 

“Mary? Was that her name?” Ward asked. He tried not to sound too eager.

 

“Mary Sue Poots to be more specific. She hated her name, even at a young age. When she was older, she started going around and telling people to call her Skye instead of Mary. I have no idea where she got that name from, but she was insistent. She wouldn’t even respond to Mary after a while, but we don’t abide by nicknames here, we only call the children by their real names. She was a lot of trouble for us.”

 

“I bet she was,” Ward was smiling. _Mary Sue Poots._ He couldn’t blame her for hating the name, but he was happy to have this information that she clearly didn’t want anyone to know.

 

“She was always a sweet girl, but I can’t say I’m surprised that she’s in some kind of trouble with the law. What has she done?” Sister McKenna asked.

 

“We just need to ask her a few questions,” Ward replied easily. “Do you by any chance have a file on her? She managed to erase any records of her true identity online. Do you keep hard copies?”

 

“We do. We haven’t really caught up to the current trend of keeping everything on computers. All of the files are downstairs. I’ll have someone get hers for you,” she stood up and walked over to her door, when she opened it, she called out for Sister Ellis. When Sister Ellis came over, she said to her, “Sister, will you please go downstairs and find the file for a Mary Sue Poots, please, and bring it to me.”

 

“Yes, of course,” Sister Ellis smiled at her and turned around to go get the file.

 

“She’ll be back soon,” Sister McKenna said as she closed the door and walked back to her desk. “Can I help you with anything else on this matter?”

 

“Can you tell me about her time here? What was it like for her? Did she have many friends?” Ward wanted to know everything he could without sounding pushy.

 

“Mary certainly made friends, but she didn’t keep them very long. They would often be out of here and on to their new homes by the time she got close with any of them. Either that, or she would leave herself, and when she came back, her friends were gone.”

 

Ward was hanging on every word. “Why did families always send her back? Was it her behavior?”

 

Sister McKenna looked thoughtful. “Truthfully, I never understood it myself. Mary could be rebellious, but she would never be disrespectful or misbehave outside of her insistence to not use her given name. Families often brought her back with little to no explanation as to why. I assumed her behavior with the families was different than how she behaved here. But it was always peculiar. And she was always heartbroken when she was brought back.”

 

“Was she?” Ward pressed.

 

“Oh, very much so. She would go back to her old room and cry for hours sometimes after being brought back. It was very difficult for her, and I can’t say I blamed her,” Sister McKenna suddenly looked very sad. “She was so young, and had to deal with that kind of rejection.”

 

There was a knock on the door. “Sister McKenna?” Sister Ellis stuck her head in the door. “I have that file for you.”

 

Sister McKenna waved her in and held out her hand. Sister Ellis came over and gave it to her, and then she smiled at Ward as she left the room.

 

For a moment, Sister McKenna looked through her file. Then she took out a small photo from it. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to recognize her, but we do have a picture here of her. She was about ten when this was taken.” She handed Ward the photo.

 

Ward did his best not to snatch it out of her hand in excitement. He looked at the picture, it was black and white, but he knew for certain that it was Skye. Her long, dark hair and dark eyes, her sweet smile, all of it gave her away. It was Skye. He noticed how her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She looked young and sad, and considering what Sister McKenna had been telling him, he knew why.

 

“So? Do you think it’s her?” Sister McKenna asked him.

 

“It is most certainly her,” Ward said. “Now can you help me with one other matter?”

 

“Of course,” Sister McKenna said.

 

“Do you have a record of all the homes she stayed in, by chance?”

 

“Yes, we have them all listed,” she looked back in the file and shuffled through a few papers until she found was she was looking for. “Ah, here it is. A list of all the families she stayed with during her years with us.” She handed it to Ward.

 

Ward quickly scanned the paper, and was happy to see that the dates she was with the family were documented. There were many families on the list, more than twenty. After a moment of looking at the paper, he found what he wanted.

 

“The Hamilton family,” Ward said. “She stayed with them the longest. Do you remember them? She was about twelve at the time.”

 

“Hamilton family…” Sister McKenna put a finger to her chin and looked thoughtful. “Yes…I think I remember. At least, I remember when Mary came back from staying with them. She locked herself in her room for two days and refused to eat or let any of us in. We had never seen her worse than that. Leaving the Hamiltons might have been the hardest for her.”

 

Ward smiled and stood up. “Thank you so much, Sister McKenna. I think that’s all I need.”

 

She stood up and held out her hand for him to shake. “Well, I’m glad I could help you. And if you see Mary, could you tell her something for me?”

 

“Of course,” Ward said as he shook her hand.

 

Sister McKenna took her other hand and put it on top of his as they shook. “Tell her to be safe, and despite what she may have thought, we did care for her while she was here,” she said in earnest. She seemed to really mean it.

 

Ward smiled and nodded. “That’s very kind. I will be sure to tell her.”

 

Sister McKenna smiled and looked grateful and as she was about to pull her hand away, Ward pulled her forward over her desk, took out his knife and stabbed her in the stomach. She cried out, but Ward put a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. She was slung over her desk, Ward put her on her back and as she looked up at him desperately and confused, he slit her throat. Blood came spraying out for a moment, and he watched as she stared at him and her eyes finally darkened.

 

Ward took his hand away from her mouth; he had quite a bit of blood on him from when he sliced her throat. He took Skye’s file out from under her. Luckily, no blood had gotten on it. He tucked it into his jacket.

 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Sister McKenna? I need your help if you’re finished.” Sister Ellis’s voice rang out.

 

Ward silently moved so he could hide behind the door when she opened it.

 

After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again, “Sister McKenna?” The door opened, and Ward was concealed behind it.

 

Apparently Sister Ellis had been holding a stack of papers, because Ward heard them all drop to the floor at the sight of Sister McKenna dead on top of her desk. Before she could cry out, however, Ward slammed the door, revealing himself; he grabbed Sister Ellis from behind, and cut her throat. He heard her choke on her own blood as she began to collapse. When she was on the floor, she looked up at Ward as he stood over her. Ward leaned down and put a hand on her face.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “But I have no prayers to say for you.”

 

Sister Ellis choked a few more times before she stopped breathing and stilled. Ward looked at the two nuns he had just killed. He may not be religious, but that was certainly a sin.

 

 


	2. Into the Fray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have fulfilled my promise of Fitz/Skye in this chapter. I hope you like it!

“I’ve got it! They’re clones!” Trip yelled out suddenly in the middle of a sit-up.

 

Skye paused and brought herself up from her own sit-up to look at him. They were in the base’s gym, working out together as they usually did. “Is this about the Koenigs again? Last time you said robots. Before that it was an entire alien race of Koenigs. Now it’s clones?”

 

Trip stopped his sit-ups as well. “The alien race of Koenigs is still plausible. They could have an entire planet of just Koenigs, and they worship a lanyard god.”

 

Skye had to laugh at that. Discussing Trip’s Koenig theories was one of her favorite pass times. They laughed for a moment before they were interrupted.

 

“I’m seeing a lot of laughing and not a lot of training,” May said from behind them as she came back into the gym.

 

Trip and Skye turned to look at May. She was standing behind them in her own work out clothes from when she sparred with Skye earlier. Her eyebrows were raised at them expectantly.

 

“Well, technically, you’re not my S.O…” Trip said.

 

May turned her eyes on him. “I’m sorry, did you not agree to train with Skye whenever I asked you to? Or did I hear that wrong?” May said, and she suddenly looked a lot more intimidating.

 

“No! You didn’t! You’re right, I did say that!” Trip suddenly went right back into sit-ups, much quicker than before, while trying to contain his laughter.

 

Skye laughed. “Can we take a short break, May?”

 

Skye rarely asked for breaks, so when she asked, May typically allowed them. “Five minutes,” she told her. “You can stop with the sit-ups now, Trip. If you keep going that fast, you’ll pull something.” Skye saw a hint of a smile on her face.

 

“Oh, thank god,” Trip said as he lay on the floor. “It’s a good thing you’re here, Skye. Or I’d probably never ask for a break myself.”

 

“Wimp. What would you do without me?” Skye got up and walked over to her laptop.

 

“Life would be a misery without you!” Trip called after her.

 

Skye chuckled and sat down with her laptop. She opened it up to check for any matches on the writings Coulson had been carving. She had been trying to match them to anything she could, but nothing had come up. Before she could check, she noticed a few messages from an old hacker friend of hers, Micro. He didn’t usually reach out to her unless he had something he knew she would want. She clicked on his messages.

 

**Micro: Skye, I think you’re gonna want to see this.**

 

He had sent her a link to a news article, she clicked on it, and the headline read:

 

**Massacre at St. Agnes Orphanage**

 

Skye’s eyes widened. She read through the article, and apparently the day before someone had come into the orphanage and killed every nun there. The children were alive, none of them had been found dead, but they had witnessed everything. Nothing was stolen, the attack seemed random. _This wasn’t random._

 

Skye quickly hacked into the databases of any morgue in that area until she found the one the nuns were being kept in. She needed to know their names, one in particular. She sifted through he files, looking for a familiar name.

 

Rose.

 

Carlson.

 

Ellis.

 

Gilbert.

 

_McKenna._

 

Now Skye knew for sure. She looked up at May and Trip, who were talking. Or rather, Trip was talking excitedly about something and May was listening and occasionally nodding.

 

“Guys,” Skye said quietly. They turned to look at her. “We need to talk to Coulson. Now.”

 

*****

 

Coulson brought Fitz and Simmons in his office too when Skye asked, she wanted the team with her. When they were all together, Skye put the St. Agnes article up on Coulson’s big screen and turned to look at them. All of them had their eyes on the screen.

 

Coulson was the first to speak, “You think this is Ward.”

 

“I _know_ it’s Ward,” Skye said with certainty. “This can’t be a coincidence. He escaped a few days ago and then suddenly the nuns from my orphanage are murdered? There’s no way he didn’t do it.”

 

“Why would he do this? What could he possibly gain? You have no connection to that orphanage anymore,” Simmons said.

 

“I don’t know. But I know it’s him. I looked at the reports from the morgue. One of the nuns that was killed was Sister McKenna. She was the only one still there from when I was at St. Agnes. I told Ward about her when he was pretending to be on our team.”

 

“What did you tell him?” Coulson asked.

 

“I don’t remember,” Skye was exasperated. “I just mentioned her in passing when talking about the orphanage.”

 

“Does this mean he’s trying to hurt you?” Fitz asked.

 

Skye turned to look at Fitz. They hadn’t been as close as she wished they could be lately. It had been difficult with his brain injury. To hear the worry in his voice really meant a lot to her.

 

“I don’t know what he’s trying to do,” Skye said to him. Then she looked at the rest of the team. “Scare us, maybe?”

 

They all paused for a moment and looked at each other. None of them liked the idea of Ward killing randomly just to scare them.

 

“Why don’t you and May go to the orphanage,” Coulson said. “See what you can find.”

 

Skye stiffened. “You don’t want us to bring back up?”

 

May looked at her. “Skye, Ward has no doubt moved on by now. He would know that we’d be on his trail. He won’t stay in one place for long,” she said reassuringly.

 

Skye felt better at that. It was probably true, and at least she’d be with May. “Wheels up in five?” she asked.

 

“Make it ten. Change your clothes before we leave,” May said and headed out of the room.

 

“Be careful, Skye. This is Ward we’re dealing with,” Coulson said.

 

“Yeah, and if you happen to see him, your aim has gotten a lot better,” Trip told her, and she smiled at him.

 

Simmons came over and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s long gone from New York by now. You’ll be fine.”

 

Skye looked at all of them appreciatively. “Thanks,” she said, before heading out of the room. She didn’t get far before she heard footsteps behind her.

 

“Skye?” Fitz’s voice called out.

 

She turned around to look at him. Fitz had paused and was looking at her. He was, as he had usually been lately, struggling to find the words.

 

“I just—” he said. “I wanted to—”

 

Skye approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her. “Did you want to wish me luck?” she asked, trying to fill in the gaps for him.

 

Surprisingly, he shook his head. “I don’t want you to go,” he sputtered out.

 

She sighed. “Fitz, I don’t want to go either, but if Ward is out there hurting people, we have to do something. We can’t just stay here and hide.”

 

“It-it shouldn’t be you though,” he continued quickly. “You’re giving him what he wants. He wants you out of the…the—” he looked to her for the word.

 

“Base?” she guessed.

 

“Yes!” he said. “You’re safe here. You’re not safe out there.”

 

In this moment, a part of her wanted to cry. It had been a long time since she and Fitz had talked so openly. Usually it was just her visiting the lab and guessing what he was trying to say. Mac had become better at it then she was, so she had been keeping her distance even more lately. She knew from Fitz’s visit with Ward in his cell how difficult it was for him to even discuss Ward, but here he was, doing it for her.

 

Skye put both hands on his shoulders. “You may be right,” she said. “I might be doing exactly what he wants,” he looked at her, with some hope. “But that doesn’t change that I have to go."

 

Fitz’s face fell. “But—”

 

“I’m different now, Fitz. He can’t hurt me like he could before,” she said. “Besides, I’m with May. The way I see it, there’s nowhere in the world safer than with May.” She tried to smile reassuringly.

 

Fitz looked slightly less worried, so she counted that as a victory. “Promise me you’ll be careful,” he said.

 

Skye leaned forward and hugged him tight. The first time she had hugged him in what felt like years. “I promise,” she said into his ear.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. Things are going to get bad. Can't you tell? Next chapter will be up soon.


	3. Remembrances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a sad chapter, Skye goes to visit her orphanage and lots of sad memories for her. Hope you like it.

Skye hadn’t seen St. Agnes since she dropped out of high school and hit the road, hoping to find something better for her life. Now she was standing in front of the same doors she was brought through every time a family rejected her. At least, that’s what she thought at the time. She knew now that S.H.I.E.L.D. was responsible for moving her around from family to family, to keep her safe. But the memories of her heartbreak upon being brought back over and over again were still painful.

 

May walked up the steps and stood next to her. “Are you ready?”

 

Skye put on a brave face, trying to take her mind off her childhood. Even though she was staring it right in the face. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”

 

The sun was setting, the crime scene tape on the orphanage was still up, but the cops had cleared out. The chaos of children and officers running around and the bodies being taken away occurred the day before. Now the street was pretty desolate.

 

May opened the door to the orphanage and ducked under the police tape to enter. After a moment, Skye followed. She closed the door behind her and looked around, a swarm of memories came back to her. It was like she was a kid again, stepping through those doors after coming back from church or the park. She took a few steps forward and looked down one of the halls, where her room was. For a moment, she stared down the hallway. Her stay here may have been a long time ago, but being in the orphanage, it was like nothing had changed. She was still the same girl looking for her place in the world. Looking for family.

 

“Skye?”

 

May was talking to her. Skye turned around and looked at her. “Yeah? Yes, I’m fine.”

 

“I didn’t ask if you were,” May wasn’t being harsh; there was worry in her voice. “I can search alone, if this is too much for you.”

 

“No, no. I’m fine, I promise,” Skye said. “It’s just a little overwhelming.” Skye looked back down the hallway to her old room.

 

“I can imagine,” May said.

 

“Let’s look around,” Skye said hurriedly, and walked down the hallway opposite to her old room.

 

Skye was suddenly paying more attention to her surroundings, now that the rush of memories was slowing down. She saw the blood. There was some in the foyer and spatters in the hallway as well. Ward hadn’t exactly been careful. Skye was horrified by the thought of the children seeing this. Some of them had witnessed these murders.

 

She reached the end of the hall, the office. When she was there as a child, it was Sister Bell’s office, she had been in charge at the time. Though she was very old then. Skye imagined it had passed on to someone else. _Probably Sister McKenna._ It only made sense. She had been there the longest. Skye opened the door to find more blood. A lot of the office had been cleared out, cops taking away the evidence she presumed, but the blood was still there.

 

There was blood all over the desk. Skye imagined Ward must have stabbed her to death on her own desk. There was some on the floor as well. Two nuns had died in here. _If there is a God, Ward just secured his spot in hell, as if he hadn’t already._ Skye could feel her breathing get heavier the more she thought about it. All of this was sickening.

 

“Skye.”

 

Skye jumped and whirled around, taken by surprise. May was standing in the doorway, looking at her.

 

“I’m sorry, but I found something,” May said.

 

“It’s fine. It’s just…what he did….” Skye managed to get out.

 

“I know,” May said. “I should have killed him.”

 

For a moment, Skye wished that she had. Wished that May had snapped his neck when she had the chance or that she had let Mike finish him when he was dying in front of her. She mentally kicked herself for bringing that psycho back to life. “What did you find?” she asked.

 

“In the basement. Come on.” May turned around and headed back down the hallway.

 

The basement was always off limits when Skye had stayed in St. Agnes, so going down there was a first. It felt strange and wrong; she was half expecting a nun to drag her by her ear back up the stairs.

 

When they reached the basement, there were rows and rows of filing cabinets, a computer lover’s worst nightmare.

 

“These are files of everyone who has stayed here,” May said. “It occurred to me that he might have taken your file.”

 

“Why would he do that?”

 

May shrugged. “To feel close to you? For information on you? Could be for a few reasons. Skye, what name did you have while you were here? We need to know if he took your file.”

 

Skye clenched her teeth. She hated the name they gave her. It was the name of the girl who had no home and was wanted by no one. But they needed to know.

 

“Mary Sue Poots,” Skye said.

 

For a moment, Skye was so relieved that she was with May and no one else. Most people would at least chuckle over her given name, but May didn’t even blanch. She just immediately started looking through the files.

 

After glancing in the first cabinet, she said, “This is the end of the alphabet. Ps are probably in one of those two rows.” She directed her.

 

They went to the first of the two rows, Skye on one side, May on the other. May was listing off names under her breath as she opened a cabinet. “Mitchell, Murdock, Nader, Olsen…I found the Ps.”

 

Skye went to her cabinet and looked through the files with the last name P. “Plumer, Podrick, Pond…Powell.” Skye looked up at May. “Poots isn’t here.”

 

“Okay. So now we know why he was here,” May said.

 

Skye slammed the cabinet door shut. “Let’s go back upstairs. It’s creepy down here.” Skye all but ran back up to the foyer. When May came up the stairs behind her, Skye turned to look at her. “So what, Ward is gonna kill every family I’ve ever stayed with?”

 

“No, Skye. He wouldn’t do that. It would take too much time and make it far too easy for us to track him down. Do you know of anyone in particular he would go after?”

 

“I don’t know! I never even told him the names of any of the families I stayed with. Why would he go after just one?” Skye’s mind was racing. She still hadn’t eliminated the possibility of him killing all of the families she had ever been with. She couldn’t have that much blood on her hands.

 

“Skye, do you need a minute?” May asked her. Once again, Skye was glad she was with May; her calm demeanor was helping her keep it together at all.

 

“Yeah, I just…I’ll be right back.” Skye passed her and went down the hallway she was looking at before, where her old room was. She needed to clear her head. The memories of her time here combined with the worry over what Ward would do next was too much.

 

She stood at the door for a moment, wondering who else had stayed in this room over the years, if they had found families or any kind of happiness. When she opened the door, she noticed the rearranged furniture first. Things don’t usually stay the same after ten years. She entered the room, and the memories continued to come back. Restless nights of crying, locking herself in after being brought back by yet another family. But there were a few good memories, the few friends she had made, the times she had spent with them. She sat down on the bed, as uncomfortable as ever. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same mattress.

 

Skye tried to think back to conversations with Ward. Usually, she tried to block out those memories, but she needed to think hard on them now. They rarely discussed their pasts, only a few times that she could think of. She barely told anyone about her time at the orphanage or the families she stayed with. Skye could swear up and down that she never told him the name of any family she stayed with.

 

_Maybe it’s not a name._

 

Her first mission. After she came back from the mission at Quinn’s villa, she told Ward about the time she called her foster mother “mom.” At the time, she thought of it as their first bonding experience. Now she realized he was just assessing her to determine where her head was in all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. business. To see if she was a threat to Hydra.

 

She told him about the woman she called “mom” but she didn’t give a name, she was sure of that. This was the only occasion she could think of when she told him anything about her foster families. What could be in her file to be of any help to him? A listing of the families she stayed with… _I stayed with the Hamiltons the longest._ It hit her then. The dates she stayed with all the families must be in her file. It wouldn’t be hard to assume that she liked the family she stayed with for the longest period of time, and that that was the family with the woman she called “mom.” This had to be it.

 

Skye stood up and walked towards the door to go tell May what she knew when she noticed something odd. The Cross hanging on the wall next to the door, it had a paper behind it, like it had been placed there. When she was in St. Agnes, that would have been a problem with all of the nuns, you weren’t allowed to move the Cross; you couldn’t even touch it, let alone stick things behind it. So she fell back on those old rules and reached out to take the paper away. When she touched it, she realized it wasn’t piece of paper, it was a photograph. She turned it over in her hand and froze.

 

A little girl in a black and white photo stared back at her, a little girl with dark hair and a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. This was her, and there was blood on it. Blood from the nuns he had murdered. Ward had left this for her. Her old room must have been listed in her file, and he left behind the photo, knowing she couldn’t resist going into her old room.

 

Skye felt her eyes start to water. She needed to go. Seeing the orphanage was bad enough without everything Ward had done to make it worse. She stuffed the picture in her back pocket and left her old room, slamming the door behind her. May was waiting for her in the foyer, Skye rushed over to her.

 

“Let’s get out of here. I know where he went.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. I promise the action will pick up soon. Crazy stuff is coming.
> 
> P.S. Did you catch my Daredevil easter egg? *wink wink*


	4. Back to Haunt You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my favorite chapter so far. So I hope you like it.

It wasn’t difficult to find Mindy and Jonathan Hamilton’s address. Skye found it after a quick search. They actually hadn’t moved since Skye’s stay with them all those years ago. Their home wasn’t far from the St. Agnes, so they didn’t have to leave the city.

 

As she and May approached the house, the sense of dread in Skye’s stomach was becoming more and more apparent. She knew what they would probably find if her hunch was right about what Ward’s next move was. He had a day’s jump on them; he could have been in and out of here quickly the day before.

 

Skye and May approached the front door; Skye hesitated for a moment before knocking. As she expected, there was no answer. After waiting a minute longer, she opened the door and May got her gun out, ready for an attack.

 

When they entered, the house was quiet. No sign of anything out of the ordinary. Skye shut the door, drew her own gun, and looked at May, who signaled for her to check the kitchen while she went into the living room. In the kitchen, something did look off, there was a pan with an uncooked burger on it, as if someone had abandoned it, and plates were stacked next to the pan like they were getting ready to eat. The food was cold, left untouched, but no one was there.

 

Skye went into the living room, May saw her, and they both shook their heads and looked to the stairs. May nodded at her and took the lead, as they went up the stairs, the sense of dread Skye was feeling kept getting stronger. She didn’t want to know what was waiting for them upstairs.

 

When they reached the top, Skye looked to what she remembered was the master bedroom and nudged her head in the direction of the door for May to see. May understood and approached the door with her. They paused for a moment before Skye threw the door open and they both pointed their guns inside.

 

Two bodies, one on the bed and the other in a chair. Both of them stared for a moment before May looked at Skye and said, “I’ll check the rest of the house.” She walked down to the other end of the hallway. Skye realized that May thought she needed a moment alone, after finding her old foster parents dead.

 

Skye tucked her gun into her holster and entered the bedroom. As she got closer, she could see that Jonathan Hamilton was tied to the chair with Mindy lying on the bed. She approached Jonathan. He looked older, his hair was gray, but she remembered him from her time in his home. He loved baseball; a few times she watched the Yankees games with him. He even coached a little league team. He loved to work in his yard and to play with the dog. He loved his wife. Skye had always remembered him with fondness. Right away, she could tell he did not have an easy death. He was covered in blood and bruises. It looked like he had been beaten.

 

Skye took a step forward and stepped on something. She looked down and saw a baseball bat, lying next to Jonathan’s body. It was bloody. She realized then that Ward had beaten him to death with a baseball bat, probably Jonathan’s own bat.

 

Her breathing was starting to get heavier as she turned towards Mindy, the woman she had once called “mom.” The only woman she had ever called “mom.” She approached her body. Skye had called her “mom” and been scared of her reaction. For days she had wanted to try it out. Mindy was so kind to her. She drove her to school every day and picked her up right on time, she made her favorite meals, and was only stern when she had to be. It was the first time she had ever really thought of someone else as her family.

 

It was at dinner when she called Mindy “mom.” She had tried to slip it in, make it seem normal. Mindy had passed her something at the dinner table, and she had said “Thanks, mom.” It took Mindy by surprise, and Jonathan. They had both looked at her for a moment in silence. But after that, Mindy smiled and said, “You’re welcome, Mary.” Skye thought then that it was okay. That Jonathan and Mindy could really be her parents.

 

A week later, she was back in St. Agnes, and for years she believed that she was brought back because Mindy was upset that she called her “mom.” She hated herself for losing the closest thing she had ever had to a family.

 

_S.H.I.E.L.D. probably moved me because I was getting too attached._

 

She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn’t been in the picture. Would she have stayed with them? Was Mindy actually happy to have a daughter who would call her “mom”? Could she have had a good life with the Hamiltons? She would never know.

 

Skye looked at Mindy’s body. For a moment, she didn’t seem to have any wounds, and Skye wasn’t sure how she had died. Then she looked at her throat. There were bruises, as if someone had their hands around her neck. Mindy was strangled. Strangled on top of her own bed.

 

Skye looked at Mindy’s face and back and Jonathan’s bloody form and suddenly felt nauseous. This was too much. She bolted from the room.

 

“Skye—” May had been waiting outside the door for her, but Skye couldn’t stop, she ran down the stairs and out the front door. The second she was out of the house, she keeled over next to a bush and puked. She had felt this way while at St. Agnes, when she saw the blood of all the nuns. But seeing the dead bodies of her foster parents, two of the first people she had ever loved, it was more than she could handle. She unloaded her stomach into the bush.

 

Skye felt a hand take her hair and pull it back. She looked up and it was May, holding her hair while she puked, and looking at her in earnest. Skye spit out the rest of what had come up her throat and stood up. May let go of her hair but was still looking at her.

 

“I’m sorry,” Skye said.

 

“Don’t apologize,” May told her.

 

“Did you see what he did to them?” Skye asked.

 

May nodded.

 

“He did this…because of what I told him. Because he wants to hurt me.” Skye was beginning to come undone. She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she looked at May.

 

“Don’t do this Skye. You didn’t do this. Everything Ward does is on him, not you. Do _not_ blame yourself.”

 

“I brought him back to life!” Skye yelled through her tears. “He was dying in front of me. I brought a serial killer back to life. If I had just let him die, the Hamiltons would be alive!”

 

“The same can be said for me,” May said as she put her hands on Skye’s shoulders. “I had him nailed to the floor, I could have killed him, and I wanted to, but I let him live.”

 

Skye looked at her, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

 

“But that doesn’t mean this is our fault,” May said. “We may have had mercy on him, but that does not make us bad people. He killed all of those people, not us, and he will pay for what he’s done. I promise you.”

 

Skye scanned May’s face. She could see that she meant it; they weren’t going to let him get away with this. Without thinking, Skye collapsed into May’s arms and held onto her tight. May was clearly surprised, her hands hovered over Skye’s back for a moment, before they came down gently, and she hugged her back. Absently, Skye realized this was the first time they had hugged. They rarely even touched. May wasn’t exactly affectionate, but she needed the support right now.

 

When they pulled apart, May said, “We need to call this in. Let’s get back to the bus.”

 

*****

 

May and Skye stood together around the table on the plane, May had called Coulson to update him, and contacted the authorities about the Hamiltons. They would be collecting their bodies, and pursuing their own futile investigation.

 

On screen, Coulson asked, “Skye, I need you to think. What would Ward do next? Who would he go after?”

 

Skye’s eyes snapped up to the screen. She had been preoccupied with thoughts of the Hamiltons, but Coulson bringing up Ward’s next target brought her right back. She knew the answer right away. “Miles.”

 

May looked at her and Coulson nodded. “He came to my mind as well. Call him. Let him know what’s happening. I’ll see if I can get a team close by to tail him. Is he still in Austin?”

 

“He is. Can we go too? I want to see him,” Skye said.

 

“That’s fine, but be careful,” Coulson said. “Call him now. We need to know if he’s even still alive.”

 

*****

 

Miles pulled up to his apartment and parked his car. He had to leave parties early these days, considering his friends always ended up wanting to hack into something, and having him in the room made him a human firewall. He hadn’t hacked anything in over a year thanks to his bracelet. He had adjusted. It’s not like he made money from hacking, but it was a hobby that he missed.

 

He reached the door to his apartment and unlocked it, the same apartment he had lived in for years now. He actually kind of hated Texas, but had become so used to it that he couldn’t be bothered to move and find somewhere new to live. Routine takes over sometimes, as it did when S.H.I.E.L.D. put a bracelet on him to keep him from hacking. All of his friends had already tried getting it off, but it wasn’t happening. He tossed his keys on the table and grabbed an apple to eat. The worst thing about the bracelet is it would probably never come off. S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone, at least most of it. It was doubtful that anyone would stop by and offer to take it off for him.

 

As he sat down on his couch to channel surf, his cell phone rang. Most people who would call him were at the party he just left, and when he looked at the caller I.D., it just read “unknown number.”

 

Miles answered it, “Hello?”

 

“Miles!” he heard Skye’s voice on the other end. That came as a shock. He hadn’t heard from Skye at all since she left him in China, only talks from his friends that she would occasionally reach out to them for information or news. He never expected to speak to her again.

 

“Skye?” was all he could get out.

 

“Miles, I need you to listen to me. You’re in danger. We have a S.H.I.E.L.D. team on route to you and I’m on my way—”

 

“Woah, woah, Skye, what are you talking about? There is no S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. I saw Captain America blow it up on the news,” Miles said.

 

“We really don’t have time for that right now, Miles,” Skye said. “Did you not hear me? _You’re in danger._ Remember Ward?”

 

Miles wished he didn’t. “He was on the news too. Or his brother was. They were saying he’s Hydra.”

 

“He is. Miles, I think he’s coming after you. He killed the nuns at my orphanage, and a foster family I stayed with. He may come for you next.”

 

Miles felt something drop in his stomach. A Nazi coming after him? He recalled Skye referring to him as “seal team six.” Not exactly someone he wanted to have a vendetta against him.

 

“Why do you think he’d come for me?” he asked.

 

“He’s going after people from my past, people I’ve cared about. You fit the bill,” Skye said. “Now listen to me. I need you to lock your door and all your windows. Hide somewhere in your apartment. The S.H.I.E.L.D. team should be on its way, and they’ll take you somewhere safe. Don’t open the door for anyone but them. The code word they’ll give you is ‘suppertime.’ You got it?”

 

This was happening way too fast. Miles was starting to feel more panicked the more she talked. He shot off the couch and started locking his windows. “Yeah, I got it. When will they be here?”

 

“Soon. I’m coming too,” Skye said.

 

For a moment, Miles felt excited about seeing Skye again, but the panic was too overwhelming to dwell on it. “Well, tell the team to get their asses over here. You’ll be here soon?” Miles was locking his bedroom windows.

 

“It’ll take a little longer, but yes,” she said.

 

“Okay. I’ll do what you said. I’m already doing it.”

 

“We should get off the phone now. Make sure you hide, and _promise me_ you won’t open the door for anyone unless they give you the code word,” Skye said. He caught the worry in her voice. Part of him was happy to know she still cared about him.

 

“I promise, Skye,”

 

“Alright. I’ll see you soon,” and she hung up.

 

Miles hung up his phone and went to make sure his door was locked. Then he thought to turn out all the lights, so anyone looking in from outside wouldn’t think he was there. He went through his apartment and turned off any light he had on. When he was standing in complete darkness, with all the lights off, he started thinking of a place to hide. His first instinct was under his bed and he went with it.

 

He entered his bedroom, and was about to crawl under his bed when he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye next to his door. For a moment, he was frozen in fear, and the figure didn’t move. Slowly, he turned his head.

 

Ward.

 

There was a smile on his face, like he was laughing at him. He was dressed in all black, and Miles was horrified to realize that he must have been in his apartment since he had gotten back. He still couldn’t move as Ward took few steps forward and stopped right in front of him. Miles was still crouched on the ground, staring up at Ward, who continued to smile.

 

“Hiding under your bed? Really?” he said. “Honestly, I don’t understand what she ever saw in you.”

 

Miles saw him raise his fist and when it came down, there was nothing but blackness.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger! Poor Miles! Hope you liked it.


	5. Tenderness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter with Coulson and Fitz. I wanted to add some sweetness since things are getting pretty dark in future chapters.

Minutes after finishing his call with May and Skye, Coulson heard a knock on his door. Fitz poked his head in.

 

“Sir? Can I talk to you?” he asked.

 

Coulson waved him in.

 

Fitz entered his office and shut the door behind him. “So I happened to be walking by when you were talking to May and Skye—”

 

“You mean like how you’ve just happened to be walking by my office since they left? Yeah, I noticed,” Coulson said.

 

Fitz blushed, but didn’t deny it. After May and Skye had left the base, he had been worried. Any chance he got, he would walk by Coulson’s office, hoping he’d hear from them and he could listen in and know that they were safe. He didn’t think Coulson would notice though.

 

“I’m s-sorry, sir. I’ve just been nervous about this mission,” Fitz said.

 

Coulson nodded. “I know. I have too. But you heard Skye and May, they’re fine.”

 

“You think Ward will go after Miles?”

 

“I do. Even when Ward was pretending to be S.H.I.E.L.D., I remember finding it strange how angry he was when we found out about Miles. For days after Skye apologized, he was still treating her badly. At the time, I thought it was immature jealousy, and it probably was. But now that we know who Ward really is, I don’t like to think of what he’d do to Miles out of jealousy. But Skye just talked to him. He’s safe for now.”

 

Fitz was shifting from one foot to the other, trying to find a way to get out his next sentence. “You should bring Skye and May back.”

 

Coulson raised his eyebrows. “That’s really not your decision, Agent Fitz.”

 

“You said you had a team on their way to protect Miles. They don’t need to be there too,” Fitz said quickly.

 

“Fitz—”

 

“And Miles might be safe right now, but Ward is probably already on his way to him, or at least in Austin. That would mean Skye would be in the same city as him. And that would mean…he could—he might…” Fitz trailed off, not able to find the words.

 

Coulson stood up from his desk and approached him. Though he got the impression that Fitz didn’t want to be touched, he looked more frustrated than anything. “Fitz, Skye has become one of our best agents, and May might be our best agent,” Coulson said. “I understand that you’re worried about Skye, but the reality is, I need my best agents looking for Ward, because he’s dangerous and has to be found. Skye and May staying here would only lead to more people getting hurt out there.”

 

Fitz hated that what he was saying made sense. If he had it his way, everyone he cared about would be as far away from Ward as possible. But as long as they were S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ward was out there, that couldn’t happen.

 

“Can you at least give me something to do so I can help?” Fitz asked.

 

“I’m glad you asked,” Coulson said. “I want you to find Ward in Austin. I’m sure he’s there. Hack into any traffic cameras, security cameras, whatever you can find. Look for him. I want to know where he is.”

 

Fitz let out a breath, happy to have a task to distract him from his worry. “I’ll find him, sir.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Fitz is so worried. We'll get back into action in the next chapter, I promise.


	6. Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely gotta give a warning before this chapter, it gets pretty icky and graphic. So you have been warned.

Skye was tapping her fingers on the top of her laptop and shaking her leg up and down anxiously. May was sitting next to her in the cockpit and she had to resist the urge to beg her to try and go faster. She knew the bus traveled faster than the average plane, but the wait until they reached Austin was excruciating. She had spoken to Miles over twenty minutes ago, and they were waiting for word from the S.H.I.E.L.D. team that he was with them and safe.

 

“Skye,” May said.

 

Skye stilled her movements. “Sorry. That’s probably annoying.”

 

May looked at her, clearly she hadn’t been annoyed by her shaking, but worried.

 

“I’m fine, I swear,” Skye said. “I’ll feel better once I see Miles. How much longer until we land?”

 

“An hour and a half, give or take,” May said.

 

That’s a lot faster than they would get on any other plane, but it still seemed like an overwhelmingly long time. The sooner they were on the ground, the better.

 

Suddenly, there was a beeping in the cockpit to indicate that someone was calling. May pressed a button and answered.

 

“This is Agent May.”

 

“Agent May, this is Agent Marshall,” came a female voice on the other end. “We have a problem. My team and I went to retrieve Miles Lyndon in his apartment, as we were ordered, and he was not there.”

 

Skye stiffened. Miles had told her that he was doing everything she told him to do. Locking his door and windows, not answering the door for anyone, and hiding. Ward must have gotten to him sometime between her phone call with him and now. May turned to look at Skye as Agent Marshall continued.

 

“There weren’t any signs of a struggle in his apartment. No signs of a break in. Is there any chance that he would have left and gone to a friend’s or somewhere else?”

 

“No, he wouldn’t do that,” Skye said. “He was doing what I told him to do. Ward must have taken him.”

 

“What should our next move be?” Marshall said.

 

“Start looking in that area. Abandoned buildings, motels, anywhere he could have taken him where he could lay low,” May said. “He couldn’t have gotten far. Start looking, it won’t be long before we’re with you.”

 

“Understood, Agent May. We’ll update you immediately if we find something,” Marshall said.

 

“Start looking,” May said, and hung up.

 

Skye could hardly move. Ward had Miles, and she had just spoken to him a mere half-hour ago. He was safe then, and now he was the farthest thing from safe.

 

May looked at her. “Skye, Miles is alive. He could have killed him easily in his apartment, but he didn’t. He took him. That means we still have a chance of finding him.”

 

Skye nodded, trying to keep her mind on the mission, and not let her attachment to Miles cloud her judgment. “I’ll contact Coulson and update him,” she said as she got up and left the cockpit.

 

Skye recalled Ward’s dislike of Miles when they had first met. She remembered finding it weird that he was mad at her for so long afterwards, but she brushed it off, assuming he was just the type to hold a grudge. She had always assumed he stayed angry for so long because she had been lying to him. Later on, she realized he was angry because she had a boyfriend. He had been jealous of Miles. She shuddered to think of what he would do with him now.

 

Once at the table, she called Coulson and put him up on the screen when he answered. “Miles is gone,” she said.

 

Coulson looked grave. “I was worried about that. I’m sure you have the team in Austin looking for him?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“That’s good. I have Fitz looking for him here as well,” Coulson said. “He’s searching through any footage he can find in Austin. He’ll find him.”

 

Skye let out a breath. Happy to know they’re using all of their resources to find Miles. “I’ll start trying his cellphone. If I can get him on the line, then we can trace the call. We probably don’t have much time.”

 

*****

 

The first thing Miles was aware of was the smell of smoke. There was a fire going somewhere close to him, he could feel the heat. He tried to open his eyes but was immediately dizzy and shut them again. Slowly, he remembered the last hour. Skye calling and warning him, locking up his apartment, Ward appearing out of nowhere, and then blackness. He took in what he could without opening his eyes. He was restrained, he could tell that much. His arms and legs were bound to the chair he was sitting in. There was a fire going, he figured in a fireplace because he was still inside.

 

For a moment, he thought he might be alone, but then he heard footsteps behind him. Ward was there. Miles shut his eyes even tighter. He didn’t want Ward to know he was awake. He didn’t want any of this to be real.

 

Miles listened as Ward approached him, and he could tell when Ward stopped right in front of his chair.

 

After a moment of silence, he heard Ward let out a chuckle. “You’re shaking,” he said.

 

Miles hadn’t realized it, but his entire body had been shaking. It wasn’t something he could stop. Stubbornly, he still refused to open his eyes.

 

That didn’t sit well with Ward, who took Miles’s face in his hand in an effort to get him to look at him. “Hey, no more sleeping. We need to get started.” He slapped Miles on the cheek, and Miles finally opened his eyes.

 

He was still dizzy from being knocked out earlier, but he could see Ward’s face right in front of his. He was smiling.

 

“That’s better,” Ward said. He released his face and turned around.

 

As the dizziness faded, Miles took in his surroundings. He was in a living room of what looked like a cabin. There was a fire in the fireplace a few feet in front of him, as he had smelled when he woke up. There was a fire poker with the end pointed into the fire. He looked out the window, and he could see trees. He was probably in some cabin in the middle of the woods. He couldn’t think of a worse place to be stuck with a psychopath.

 

Ward was facing him again, a smile still on his face. “You’ve probably noticed by now that we’re pretty far away from…well, anyone. So trying to escape won’t do you much good, and neither will screaming.”

 

Miles turned to face him with a glare.

 

It didn’t seem to bother Ward as he continued to smile and pulled up a chair to sit in front of him. “Let’s start at the beginning. How did you meet Skye?” he asked.

 

Miles stubbornly refused to speak. He only glared at him.

 

Ward sighed. “See, this really isn’t going to work, Miles. You have to talk to me, or it’s going to get very unpleasant.”

 

When Miles stayed quiet, Ward took a knife out of his pocket. Miles instinctively leaned back, and felt his breathing pick up.

 

“Tell me how you met Skye,” Ward said as he twirled the knife between his fingers.

 

Miles still wouldn’t say anything.

 

“Well…” Ward plunged the knife into Miles’s leg, directly above his knee.

 

For the first time since waking up, Miles made a sound when he screamed. Ward twisted the knife around in his leg, causing more and more blood to come out.

 

As Miles continued screaming, Ward spoke over him, “Are you going to tell me or should I continue?”

 

Miles let him twist the knife in his leg for a few more seconds before he couldn’t take it anymore. “A bar! We met in a bar!” he shouted.

 

Ward stopped his movements for a moment before pulling the knife out of his leg. Miles gasped as it was removed.

 

“See? That wasn’t so hard,” Ward said. “Tell me what happened.”

 

Miles paused. He hated to give Ward what he wanted, but he was terrified of what he would do to him if he didn’t talk. “I was at the bar and I saw her. She was drunk and some guy was trying to get her to come home with him. I got the impression that they didn’t know each other. So I went up to her and pretended I was her boyfriend to get her away from him.”

 

“How noble of you,” Ward said. “Then what?”

 

“I managed to get her to tell me where she was staying, and I brought her back to her motel room. I let her in, helped her into bed, and I left,” Miles said.

 

“Are you serious?” Ward didn’t look like he believed him.

 

Miles shot him another glare. He knew what he was implying. “ _Yes_. I brought her to her motel, and I left. That was it.”

 

“If you say so,” Ward was smiling again. Miles wanted to hit him. “Well, how did you two get together again?”

 

“She called me. I told her my name when I brought her to her room, and somehow she remembered. She looked me up in the phone book and called me.”

 

Ward nodded and gestured for him to go on.

 

Miles scoffed. “So we started hanging out, I taught her to hack, and we sort of ended up dating. Is that enough for you?”

 

Ward brought up his fist and punched him in the face. As Miles groaned in pain, Ward took his face in his hand again and turned him to face him.

 

“That’s not even close to enough. Look at it this way. The more you talk, the longer you get to stay alive,” Ward said as he brought his face closer.

 

“Why don’t you just kill me now?” Miles spat out, but was glad Ward brought his face closer, he wanted to try something.

 

“Well, first of all, I’m having too much fun right now to kill you yet,” Ward smiled. “I also still need you. You're helping me get to Skye.”

 

At that, Miles pulled his head back and threw it forward again as hard as he could, head-butting Ward in the nose. As Ward stumbled back, Miles chuckled, feeling triumphant despite his circumstances. Ward stood up straight again, Miles could see some blood drip down from his nose. He knew he was going to be punished for that, but it was worth it.

 

He heard a chuckle come from Ward as he wiped the blood away from his nose. “You know, Skye did that to me once,” he said.

 

Miles smiled, feeling proud. “Good. I taught her that.” Miles wasn’t much of a fighter himself, but he used to get in fights in school occasionally. Something he learned early on was how to head-butt someone, and Skye once asked him to show her how to do it. Miles chuckled under his breath when he remembered what Skye said at the time. “You should teach me in case any assholes touch me when I don’t want them to.”

 

Ward turned towards the fireplace for a moment, and then he crouched down to pick something up. When he turned back towards Miles, he could see that Ward was holding the poker that had noticed was pointed into the fireplace earlier. Any feeling of satisfaction he had been feeling disappeared as the breath went out of him. The end of the poker was red hot from having been in the fire for so long.

 

Ward’s smile was back on his face. “You’re not laughing now, are you?”

 

*****

 

Searching through hours of security footage was never an easy task. Fitz cursed under his breath as he continued to stare at empty streets. He had checked most of the traffic cameras around Miles’s apartment building, and hadn’t had any luck. But Coulson had recently come in to tell him that Miles was gone, so he at least knew what times to look at rather than taking shots in the dark. Miles had been taken sometime in the last hour and a half.

 

Fitz shuddered to think of what Ward could be doing to him. He could have just killed him, but he took him instead. That could only mean bad things for Miles. Fitz couldn’t bear the idea of Skye losing someone else. It was keeping him motivated to look everywhere he could.

 

“Hey, buddy,” came a voice from behind him.

 

Fitz jumped and turned around in his chair. Mac was standing behind him. “H-hey, Mac. I’m sorry I’m just—” he waved at his computer screen, hoping to get the point across.

 

Mac nodded. “Yeah, I heard. Skye’s ex boyfriend is gone. You find any trace of Ward?”

 

Fitz shook his head. “Not yet. But now I know around what time he was taken, which helps.”

 

“What are you looking at? Traffic cameras?”

 

Fitz nodded.

 

Mac approached him and looked at the computer. “Can you pull up a map of the neighborhood? There might be an easier way to find him.”

 

Fitz quickly pulled up a map of Austin, and zoomed in on the neighborhood where Miles’s apartment was. He and Mac scanned the map for a moment.

 

“Hold on…” Fitz said. “Is that a parking garage?” Fitz pointed it out on the map. “It’s close to Miles’s apartment.”

 

“Yes, it is!” Mac said. “Parking garages have security cameras. If Ward wasn’t parked on the street, then maybe he was parked in there.”

 

Fitz smiled up at Mac. “Will you help me? This could take some time, and if we can find the car he was driving, we still have to find out where he went—”

 

Mac gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You’ve got it, Turbo.”

 

*****

 

Ward had stopped with the questions for a while. Miles sat in his chair with his shirt ripped open and burns all across his chest. Ward had continued with the knife as well, his other leg had been stabbed, and he had been sliced on his cheek. Miles tried not to give him the satisfaction of hearing him beg at first, but the pain had become too unbearable. He had screamed for him to stop as he continued to burn his skin. His begging had only made Ward press the poker harder into his skin. He liked to use his fists as well. Punching him seemed to give him the most satisfaction.

 

They had been at it for what felt like an eternity before Ward took a break. He went into the kitchen to wash his hands and make himself something to eat. When he returned, he sat across from Miles again and had a sandwich in his hands. He crossed his legs and stared at Miles for a moment. Miles glared back with as much fury as he could muster, but he was too exhausted to care if Ward could see it.

 

“When was the first time you slept with her?” Ward said as he took another bite of his sandwich.

 

Miles raised his eyebrows and almost laughed. “You’re disgusting.”

 

Ward shoved his finger into the wound on Miles’s leg, causing him to cry out in pain. Ward continued to move his finger around in the wound, causing blood to gush out.

  
“Haven’t you learned by now that if I ask you a question, I expect an answer?” Ward asked, he pulled his finger out of the wound.

 

He looked at Miles expectantly, and Miles continued to breathe heavily. This was the last thing he wanted to tell Ward. He really got a sense of his obsession with Skye in the last hour, and didn’t want to indulge it. He continued to stay silent.

 

Ward smiled. “Well, alright. If that’s how you want to play it.” He got up and walked into the kitchen. Miles strained his neck, trying to see what he was doing, but it wasn’t long before Ward returned and sat in front of him again, holding a pair of pliers. He held them up in front of Miles’s face. “You know, I’ve always wanted to try this,” he said.

 

He grabbed hold of Miles’s hand and pulled on his pointer finger. Miles did what he could to pull his hand away, but he was tied to the chair. Ward lowered the pliers on his finger before latching them on to his nail. He looked up at Miles before he slowly began to pull. At first, it didn’t hurt. But as he kept pulling, the pain became excruciating. His nail was being pulled out from under his skin and Ward was not being gentle. Miles screamed again as Ward continued.

 

Once his nail was all the way out, Ward held it up in front of Miles’s face. “Do you want to talk to me now?”

 

Miles still refused to say anything.

 

“Have it your way then,” Ward said.

 

One by one, Ward pulled out every nail on his right hand. Going as slowly and torturously as possible with each finger. Miles screamed every time.

 

When he finished, Miles let out a breath. Until Ward moved to the other hand. Miles tried to wrench his hand away but Ward had hold of him and began to lower the pliers again until Miles shouted. “FINE! Fine, I’ll tell you!”

 

“Well, it’s about time,” Ward said. “I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn.” He put the pliers down on the floor and looked at him expectantly. “Well?”

 

Miles was breathing heavily. He was so exhausted; all he wanted was to sleep. “It was in my apartment. There’s not much to tell.”

 

“I think there’s plenty to tell,” Ward said, a veiled threat.

 

Miles cringed at the thought of the pliers as he continued. “It happened about a month after we met. We weren’t dating exactly, just spending a lot of time together. She hadn’t stayed over before, but it was really late, so I said she could stay. We were on the couch together when she kissed me. I wasn’t expecting it, but I liked her so I kissed her back. That’s how it happened.”

 

“What was she like?”

 

Miles felt disgusted. This Nazi was asking him what Skye was like in bed. If he wasn’t sure before that he was lusting after Skye, he was sure now.

 

“I’m not telling you anything else, you sick fuck,” Miles said. Ward could do anything he wanted, but he wasn’t going to talk about what it was like to have sex with Skye. He looked away.

 

Ward sighed. “Well, maybe it’s for the best. Besides, it won’t be long before I know what it’s like to have her myself.”

 

Miles snapped his head forward again, registering his words. Before he could think, he spat in Ward’s face.

 

For a moment, there was silence. They sat there staring at each other with only hatred between them. Ward reached up and brushed the spit off his face with his hand.

 

“You’re not gonna touch her,” Miles said with rage.

 

“Well, you’re not going to be around to stop me,” Ward said. Miles wished more than anything that he could kill him. “Now, I think I’m done talking to you,” he pulled out something from his pocket, Miles realized it was his phone.

 

“That’s my—”

 

“I’ve had it off. I get the feeling it would have been ringing a lot and I didn’t want to be interrupted.” When he turned the phone on, he whistled. “Thirty-six missed calls, Miles.” He pressed a button and held the phone up to his ear. Miles could tell when someone answered because Ward began to smile.

 

“Hey, Skye.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Miles has it bad. But he's a good guy. Sorry for yet another cliffhanger. Stay tuned.


	7. Ruin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, as promised. Hope you enjoy.

Fitz and Mac had been searching through the parking garage security footage for over thirty minutes until Mac heard Fitz yell out, “I’ve got him! At least, I think I do…”

 

Mac rushed over to his side and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. He could see someone who certainly looked like Ward pulling into the parking garage. He was wearing sunglasses and a hat, so it was hard to tell.

 

“You think that’s him?” Mac asked.

 

“I’m pretty sure,” Fitz said.

 

“The car is a black sedan,” Mac said. “Can we get a license plate number?”

 

Fitz sped up the footage a bit to catch the license plate. “Can you see that? It looks like…” he squinted at the screen.

 

Mac leaned in closer. “I think it’s D13BRD. Could that be a rental or is that car registered to someone? Maybe he stole it.”

 

Fitz quickly looked up DMV records; he was starting to shake from anticipation. “Uh, can you tell me the number again?” he still couldn’t remember things like he used to.

 

Mac repeated the license plate number to him and Fitz typed it in to the database. They waited for and answer to pop up for a moment, and it did.

 

“Henry Cohen,” Fitz said and looked up at Mac. “The car isn’t a rental. Ward stole it.”

 

“Is he married?” Mac asked. “Call his family. Maybe we’ve got something here.”

 

*****

 

Skye pressed the ‘call’ button on her phone for what felt like the hundredth time. Calling Miles was starting to feel pointless. He would have picked up by now if he could. She was starting to think Miles was dead. The chance of finding him alive grew smaller every minute. As she had been calling him, she was also looking for Ward. She must have hacked into every hotel and motel security footage in Austin, and she couldn’t find a trace of him. She even had a few of her old hacker friends looking for him. No one had found anything.

 

They had landed in Austin a few minutes ago, but she and May decided to stay on the bus and search on their own. Marshall’s team was searching in the city, and she guessed they wouldn’t find anything. May had been on the phone with them, coordinating the search.

 

Suddenly, there was a call from the base. Skye got up and approached the table to answer it. Coulson’s face popped up on the screen, Fitz was next to him. “We found Ward,” Coulson said.

 

“Where?” Skye asked urgently.

 

“He’s in a cabin at a place called Austin Lake Park, it’s just outside the city,” Coulson said.

 

“How do you know he’s there?”

           

“Fitz found him,” Coulson turned to Fitz.

 

“Ward stole a car from a man named Henry Cohen,” Fitz spoke up. “We talked to his wife, and she told us he was at his cabin fishing for the weekend. I hacked into their database and found the cabin he was staying in. It’s cabin fourteen. W-we think it’s a likely place he would go.”

 

“It’s a stretch, Coulson,” Skye said.

 

“But it’s all we’ve got,” Coulson said.

 

Skye hesitated. This was a long shot, and she didn’t want to spend time driving all the way out to the cabins for Ward to not be there. But she had to admit; a cabin the middle of the woods would be the perfect place to take someone to…she didn’t want to think about that last part. Skye looked up at the screen. Fitz was staring at her intently. He wanted her to believe him.

 

“We’ll check it out, you could be right,” she said.

 

Coulson nodded. “Keep me updated.”

 

“Skye, be careful,” Fitz said as Coulson hung up.

 

Skye quickly called May to tell her she had something and looked up the location of Austin Lake Park. As soon as she had it, May entered.

 

“Fitz found Ward. He’s staying in one of these cabins at this park,” Skye said as she showed May the address.

 

“You’re sure about this?” May asked.

 

“Fitz is sure, and I trust him,” Skye said. “Let’s go.”

 

As they were walking down to the cargo hold, May called Agent Marshall to give her the location and come with them as backup. May opened up the cargo hold as they got in the car. She pulled out quickly and sped onto the road.

 

After a minute of driving, Skye heard her phone ring. She pulled it out of her pocket, assuming it was Coulson, but she froze when she saw the name on caller I.D.

 

Miles Lydon.

 

Skye turned to May. “It says it’s Miles.”

 

May looked back at her and paused for a moment before saying, “Can you handle this?”

 

The phone continued to ring. “Yes,” she said as she answered the phone. It’s not like she had any real choice.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hey, Skye,” it was Ward’s voice on the other end. She knew it was coming, but she still wasn’t prepared. She felt sick to her stomach all of a sudden.

 

“Is Miles okay?” Skye cut to the chase.

 

“Ask him yourself,” Ward cut away for a second, and the next voice Skye heard came from Miles.

 

“Skye, I’m sorry—” his voice cut off.

 

“Miles!” Skye yelled. She needed to hear his voice again. He sounded like he was in pain.

 

“Sorry, that’s all I can offer,” Ward’s voice was back.

 

“Tell me where you are, Ward,” Skye said.

 

“You still don’t know? Damn. I thought you guys would have figured it out by now.” He sounded mocking.

 

“I want to see you, Ward. Tell me where you are.” The lie tasted bitter in her mouth. Ward was the last person in the world she wanted to see. But she was trying to tell him what he wanted to hear. She was pretty confident they were heading to the right location, but Ward didn’t need to know that. If he felt comfortable, maybe he would stay longer and they could catch him.

 

“You’re not a very good liar, Skye,” Ward said. “Well, you can be. But not when you’re panicked like this. I can hear that you’re in a car. You’re on your way right now, aren’t you?”

 

Skye didn’t say anything.

 

“And as much as I’d like to believe that you want to see me, we both know that’s not true either.”

 

“Why are you doing this, Ward?” Skye asked. It had been on her mind since she first found out he killed the nuns at her orphanage. She needed to know. “Is it just to hurt me?”

 

“No, no. That’s not the only reason,” Ward said. “It’s also for my own personal enjoyment.”

 

Skye didn’t know what to say to that.

 

Ward continued, “You know, that nun wanted me to tell you something.”

 

Skye’s breath caught in her throat. “What did she say?”

 

“She told me to tell you to be safe and that they did care about you while you stayed in the orphanage, even if you thought they didn’t,” Ward said.

 

Skye felt tears stinging in her eyes. She willed herself not to cry. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry.

 

“After she told me that, I pulled her over her desk and slit her throat,” Ward said casually. “But I did promise to tell you, and I’m a man of my word.”

 

Skye let out a gasp. It was too difficult to hear him talk about killing Sister McKenna and keep quiet. The tears started coming then, she couldn’t stop them. May looked over at her, and Skye looked back, trying to give her a look that said she was fine, but it didn’t come across. “You killed the Hamiltons,” she said. She didn’t know why she said it; maybe she needed to hear him admit it. Maybe she was trying to make him feel guilty.

 

“Oh good, I’m glad you figured that out. I wasn’t sure if you’d guess where I was going next,” Ward said, keeping his casual tone. “I made sure they were the family you told me about before I got rid of them. It took some time before the woman admitted that she was the foster parent you called ‘mom.’”

 

Skye didn’t want to think about what Ward did to make Mindy admit it was her. She imagined him beating up Jonathan with his bat while Mindy begged him to stop. She shuddered.

 

“Ward…please don’t kill Miles.” Skye said, trying to focus on keeping Miles alive instead of what the Hamiltons went through.

 

Ward paused for a moment. “Well, I didn’t expect to hear that.”

 

“I love him, Ward,” Skye was surprised by her own words, but she supposed she did still love Miles, in a way. She had moved on from him, but Miles was someone she shared part of her life with, who gave her a passion when he taught her how to hack. He had taken care of her when she was alone in the world. Part of her would always love him for that.

 

“Huh, now that is a surprise,” Ward said. “Last time you saw this guy, you abandoned him in China with no way home. Now you’re telling me you love him?”

 

“Ward, _please_. If you ever felt anything for me at all, don’t do this,” Skye hated that she was pleading with him, but she felt like she had no choice. She was at his mercy here, and so was Miles.

 

She heard Ward sigh. “Skye, don’t you get it? I’m doing this because you made me feel for you. This isn’t a revenge plot for messing up my plans with Garrett. I’m doing this because you’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted…and you tossed me away like trash,” he was starting to sound angry. “I want you to know how that felt.”

 

Suddenly, Skye heard Miles scream.

 

Skye’s soft crying had turned into sobbing at this point. She had been through too much in one day to hold back her tears any longer. “Ward, please, don’t!” she yelled through her tears.

  
“I want to thank you, Skye,” Ward said. “For giving me what I wanted.”

 

Skye was confused. “What did you want?”

 

“To hear you beg,” Ward hung up the phone.

 

*****

 

Miles looked at Ward with hatred as he hung up the phone, ending his conversation with Skye. When they were almost done speaking, Ward had pressed the hot fire poker into his chest again, causing him to scream, probably to hurt Skye if he had to guess. Ward tossed the poker back in the fireplace and turned to face him.

 

“I’m afraid I’m just about done here, Miles,” he said.

 

Miles said nothing. He just wanted to get it over with.

 

“What? No goodbyes?” Ward said. He was smiling.

 

“You’ll kill me no matter what,” Miles said. “What’s the point?”

 

“That’s true,” Ward said. “You know, I’ve been killing a lot of people lately, but you’re the only one I’ve actually had any emotions for. The rest meant nothing, I just killed them and I was done with it. But you…” Ward approached him, and took his face in his hand again. “Oh, I’m going to savor this. I didn’t like you from the moment I met you, and it’s only gotten worse since then.”

 

“The feeling is mutual,” Miles spat out.

 

Ward punched him. Miles had lost count of how many times Ward had punched him, it felt like a hundred.

 

“That makes you feel good, huh?” Miles said when he turned his face forward again. “Big fucking man, you’ll beat the shit out of me while I’m tied to a chair in the middle of the woods. You’re gonna run away from S.H.I.E.L.D. once you’ve killed me,” Miles was feeling angrier the more he spoke. If he had to die, he was getting everything off his chest first. “You’re nothing but a coward.”

 

Ward moved so fast, Miles could hardly see it. Before he knew it, Ward was holding a knife to his throat, with his face inches from his own.

 

“I am not a coward,” Ward said.

 

Miles stared back, refusing to back down. " _Yes_. You are," he said. “And she’ll never want you."

 

Miles saw Ward jerk his hand to the side, and before he knew it, he was choking on his own blood. Ward had slit his throat.

 

“She will,” Ward said. “If I take everyone else away from her.”

 

Those were the last words Miles ever heard.

 

*****

 

May and Skye pulled up to cabin fourteen in Austin Lake Park. They pulled out their guns before getting out of the car. As they approached the cabin, Skye could see that the light was still on, but there was no sign of a car. Her hope continued to fade.

 

When they reached the door, May looked at her for a moment before opening it and stepping inside. Skye took a deep breath before following her.

 

The first thing Skye noticed was the smell. It smelled like smoke, and like something was burning. She turned towards the fireplace and froze. Miles was there, sitting in a chair in front of the fire. He wasn’t moving, and her breath caught in her throat. Slowly, she approached him, and she put her gun in her holster. She reached the back of his chair and slowly moved to the front to face him.

 

Skye felt tears in her eyes again. It felt like she had spent the whole day either crying or trying not to cry.

 

Miles’s shirt had been ripped open, and he had burns all across his chest, he was covered in cuts, she presumed from a knife, and there were bruises as well. His throat was cut open and he was dead. Ward must have tortured him before finishing him off.

 

Skye fell to her knees as her breathing picked up and tears came down her cheeks, she couldn’t stop them. She reached her hand out to touch Miles’s cheek, as she had done so many times before when they were together. She used to think he was the love of her life, the only person she needed. He meant everything to her for a time, and now he was gone.

 

Her crying soon became louder as she began to sob. She felt like she couldn’t breath, and before she knew it, she was screaming. Nothing intelligible, just wailing so loud that she was sure people could hear her from miles away. She held onto Miles’s face with both her hands and put her forehead to his, wishing she could do something to bring him back. This happened to him because of her. He would have been better off if they had never met.

 

She brought her lips to his forehead and kissed him as she held his face. In the movies, that kind of thing would bring someone back from the dead. But this wasn’t a fairytale, it was real. Loving Miles wouldn’t bring him back. Nothing would.

 

Skye felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up and it was May. Skye had almost forgotten that she was there, but May was looking at her with so much care that it only made her sob harder. Anyone who cared about her would die, just like the nuns, the Hamiltons, and Miles.

 

It was almost like May knew what she was thinking, because she leaned down and pulled her into her arms. Skye sobbed into May’s chest, probably ruining her shirt, as May held her and comforted her. She shushed into her ear and rubbed her back.

 

Skye couldn’t stop thinking about the safety of May and the team. Ward was going to try and kill every last one of them. This only made her cry harder.

 

“We’ll protect them,” May said into her ear.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really sad about killing Miles, but there was no way Ward would let him live. He was good until the end though. Next chapter will be up soon.


	8. Serenity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a chapter to kind of unwind after the intensity of the last few chapters. Some FitzSkye goodness. Hope you like it.

Skye felt the sweat dripping down her back as she continued to hit the punching bag in front of her. She wasn’t sure how long she had been at it, but she couldn’t seem to settle herself, she had to keep moving or she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. A part of her remembered her first time boxing. With Ward.

_You know the hardest part about boxing?_

_Getting punched in the face?_

_Keeping your hands up._

 

Remembering that only made her punch harder. At the time, she didn’t know what she was doing, and her punches were weak. She was different now. She knew what she was doing.

 

It had been two days since they returned from Austin. The team had been waiting for her as they got off the plane. Coulson approached her, and it looked like Simmons wanted to hug her, but she could only walk by, and go straight to her room. She didn’t cry then, only fell asleep, wanting to escape the nightmares of being awake. But sleep didn’t fix anything. After only dozing off she was wide-awake again, and couldn’t find it in her to go back to bed. She went to the gym, it was four in the morning instead of five, and when May showed up, she was surprised to see her early.

 

They had worked all day trying to find a trace of Ward, everyone had come up to her and said what they always say when you lose someone. _I’m so sorry. If you need to talk, I’m here._ She nodded and said thank you, but hadn’t talked to anyone. The only person who hadn’t talked to her was Fitz. He had been keeping his distance. She figured he knew being around her was asking to be killed, and part of her knew it was smart of him to avoid her, but it still hurt. They had made some progress for once when she left, and now they were back to not speaking.

 

As for Ward, he was in the wind. They found the car that had belonged to Henry Cohen, he had ditched it on the side of the road, probably stealing another car and going on his way. As for Henry Cohen himself, they found his body hidden in the closet of the cabin Miles was in. Ward tied up his loose ends. Skye hit the punching bag harder at the thought of an innocent man, a husband and a father, dying because he was in Ward’s way. She had been looking for Ward all day, and the next day as well. Bobbi and Hunter took a team to Austin to try and find any trace of him, but they had found nothing. He was long gone from Austin by now.

 

The worst part of it was Skye had no idea what he would do next. It was driving her crazy. For all she knew, he had already started killing other people. She checked with a few of her old hacker friends, but they all seemed to be fine. To be safe, she told them to stay somewhere else for a time. Ward had already gone after the obvious people, the nuns who raised her, a family she loved, and her ex boyfriend. She had an idea that he would go after her S.H.I.E.L.D. team next. She felt tears stinging in her eyes as she started pummeling the punching bag, using all of the rest of her energy to hit it. Her arms were moving so fast they were starting to burn, but she didn’t care, she savored the pain.

 

“Skye, stop,” she heard a voice from behind her.

 

Skye paused her assault on the punching bag and turned around. Fitz was standing there at the entrance.

 

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked.

 

Fitz shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

 

Skye turned back around and continued with the punching bag.

 

“Skye…” Fitz said. “It’s two in the morning.”

 

_Huh, when did that happen?_

 

“What are you doing awake then?” Skye asked as she turned to face him again.

 

Fitz approached her slowly. “Skye, this isn’t healthy. Have you been sleeping?”

 

Skye sighed and sat down on the bench, she started unwrapping her hands, feeling the wrap soaked with sweat. “Obviously not.”

 

Fitz sat down next to her and looked at her with worry.

 

“You didn’t answer my question,” Skye said. “Why are you still awake?”

 

“I was in the lab, working late. I was going to my bunk when I passed by here and heard…” he paused, then made punching movements with his fists to get the point across. “So now I’m here.”

 

“What were you working on so late?” Skye asked as she finished unwrapping her hands.

 

Fitz hesitated and gave her a sideways glance.

 

Skye raised her eyebrows. “Fitz, what is it?”

 

“I’m trying to find Ward,” he said.

 

“That’s what we’ve all been doing,” Skye said. “Why didn’t you want to tell me?”

 

“I didn’t want to mention him to you,” he said.

 

Skye felt her heart swell. She was happy he still cared, especially after he hadn’t been talking to her since they got back.

 

“You need to sleep,” Fitz said.

 

“You say that like it’s easy,” Skye huffed as she looked down.

 

Fitz looked at her. “I _know_ it’s not easy.”

 

Skye brought her head back up and faced him. “What do you mean?”

 

He hesitated. He looked down for a moment at his hands, which were clasped together. He was suddenly very nervous. “After I woke up, after Ward uh…when he…” Fitz pointed to his head. “After he did that to me and Simmons, and I woke up from a coma, when I started moving around again, I couldn’t sleep either. I would go to my bunk and lay there for hours, wide awake.” Fitz reached up to rub his eyes before pulling his hand away again. “I knew something was, uh, wrong with me. I couldn’t speak like before. Sometimes I’d move without meaning to. The words would be in my head but I couldn’t…I couldn’t…” Fitz looked to Skye.

 

“Express them,” Skye said, she was resisting the urge to pull Fitz into her arms and hold him.

 

“Yes, exactly. I was trapped in my mind. Nothing was like before, and everyone was looking at me differently…” Fitz turned to face at her, and he saw the look on her face. “Like that, like what you look like now.”

 

“I’m not…” Skye said. “I’m not trying to look like anything…”

 

“I know. But you and everyone looked at me with pity, like I couldn’t do anything anymore. But I could, it was all there in my head, but everything being in my head doesn’t help the…the team,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep with all these words buzzing around up here.” He gestured to his head. “I couldn’t sleep because of what Ward did to me, and what he did to Simmons.” Fitz looked at her again. “I know _exactly_ how you feel.”

 

Skye did her best not to cry, she put her face in her hand, covering her eyes. If she looked at Fitz any longer, she would surely cry.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I treated you differently.” She looked up at him, she may have had tears in her eyes, but she needed to look at him for this. “I didn’t mean to, but it killed me to see you not able to find the words. I should have realized that treating you like you didn’t know what you were doing would be even worse.”

 

“You don’t have to apologize,” Fitz said. “I didn’t come here to make you feel guilty, but apparently that’s what I did.”

 

“No, no. I’m glad to hear all of that. I needed to hear it,” she said. “You’re right, I can’t sleep because of what’s happened.”

 

They paused for a moment, staring forward.

 

“When could you sleep again?” Skye asked.

 

Fitz hesitated. “I’m not sure, a few days maybe.”

 

“How did you do it?”

 

“May.”

 

Skye turned to him in surprise.

 

“I know, you’re surprised,” he said. “But after a while I just needed to sleep, I went to her and asked for help. She taught me some breathing tec-techniques, and some stuff about clearing your head. It helped. Didn’t fix everything, but I could sleep.”

 

Skye was still surprised, May had never mentioned this to her.

 

“You should talk to her,” Fitz said. “She can help.”

 

Skye nodded. “I’m going to Miles’s funeral,” she said, she didn’t know why. Maybe she needed to talk about him.

 

Fitz looked at her, not surprised, not concerned, just understanding. “If that’s what you want to do.”

 

Skye felt like she had to go, his death still pained her every time she thought about it, the guilt was overwhelming. She was hoping a funeral could give her some kind of peace, to be able to mourn and grieve with other people who loved him.

 

Fitz was still looking at her. “I didn’t know Miles well, but he seemed like a good guy, even if he made some mistakes.”

 

Skye looked at him. “I think…I think you two would have really liked each other. You know...if you could have known him.”

 

“I know I would have,” Fitz said in earnest.

 

Skye looked down, not sure how to ask what she wanted to ask for this entire conversation. “Why haven’t you talked to me since I got back?” Skye asked as she glanced at him nervously.

 

Fitz tilted his head to the side. He looked confused.

 

Skye bit her lip. “I thought…I thought after what Ward did…you didn’t want to be around me because being around me seems to get people killed,” she said the last part quickly and looked away worriedly.

 

Fitz’s eyes widened. “No! No, Skye, look at me. Look at me, please.” He put his hand on her shoulder.

 

Slowly, Skye turned to look at him again; tears were starting to run down her cheeks.

 

Fitz kept one hand on her shoulder and put the other one on the side of her face. “Skye…I just wanted to give you space. After I was hurt, everyone said the same thing to me, ‘I’m here if you need to talk.’ It drove me mental. I could tell everyone was speaking…saying the same to you, and I know they mean well, but it doesn’t help, at least it didn’t help…me. I thought if you wanted to talk to me…you would. But I’m so sorry if you thought I was avoiding you. I’ve barely kept my eyes off you since you got back…” he looked like he didn’t mean to say that last part.

 

Skye’s tears were coming full force now. She thought he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, but he was trying not to crowd her, trying to give her time, he was helping in his own way, because he knew how she felt. In her emotion, Skye leaned forward, until their faces were inches apart. Fitz looked surprised, but he didn’t move away. His hand was still on her face and they were staring at each other. Skye leaned further forward, almost closing the distance, before she heard a part of her mind telling her _No. Not right now._

 

The timing couldn’t have been worse with everything that was happening. Instead of doing what she really wanted to do, Skye put her forehead against Fitz’s and took the hand that he had on her face. They were still staring at each other; she could see the longing on his face. She buried her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. His hands went around her back and he held her tight.

 

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m here, I’m here…”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing that last part. They are so sweet and I love them together. Hope you liked it.


	9. Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad chapters about Miles's funeral. Hope you like it.

Skye slipped her hand into Fitz’s as they crossed the cemetery. They were back in Austin for Miles’s funeral. When she told Coulson she planned on going, he advised against it, seeing it as a perfect place for Ward to be lurking. Skye didn’t care. She needed to do this, needed to say goodbye.

 

The night before the funeral, Skye had gone to Fitz and asked him if he’d attend with her. Seeing everyone at the funeral, and being by herself, seemed too overwhelming. He immediately said yes.

 

It had been a while since Skye had worn a dress for something other than a mission. The black dress she was wearing had been stored away, from all the way back when she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. She never imagined she would be wearing it to Miles’s funeral.

 

Fitz was dressed in a black button down under a black blazer with nice slacks. Skye had never seen him so well dressed.

 

As they neared the funeral, hand in hand, Fitz looked at her and gave an encouraging smile. Skye responded with a small smile of her own. She was happy to have him with her.

 

Bobbi was parked on the street with a S.H.I.E.L.D. team. Coulson had insisted that if they had to go, he was sending agents with them, just to be safe. Skye was grateful. She didn’t want anything to happen.

 

Skye and Fitz entered the tent where the funeral would take place. Chairs were set up, a few people had taken their seats, while others were standing and talking. At the front, Skye could see Miles’s coffin. She gave a sharp intake of breath, it wasn’t long ago when she had seen Miles’s body right after he had died.

 

She felt Fitz squeeze her hand reassuringly and she looked at him again. He gave her a small, encouraging nod, and took a step forward. She followed his lead. He led her to the middle row of chairs and sat down. She took the seat next to him, still holding his hand.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she tried to smile.

 

Skye scanned the crowd. There was a pretty big turnout. A few of her hacker friends were here. She saw Micro. It was odd seeing them in suits. They all looked sad as they spoke to each other, sometimes glancing at the coffin.

 

She also saw Miles’s parents, Carol and Richard Lydon. After she and Miles had been dating for a while, he wanted her to meet his parents. She had made fun of him for it, like it meant they were going to get married next, but really, it meant a lot to her that someone cared enough to ask her to meet his parents. At that point, she had been so wrapped up in Miles; she thought they would be together forever.

 

His parents had loved her, she remembered that very well. They were happy to see Miles finally getting serious with someone. Miles had blushed a lot that evening as his parents told embarrassing stories about him, and brought out the middle school pictures. Skye smiled fondly at the memory.

 

They looked older now, but Carol was still lovely, and Richard still as tough looking as ever. But their faces were grave, there were no smiles like the evening they had teased their son to his girlfriend, and thought perhaps she would marry him and take care of him. Now they looked grief stricken. Skye could tell Carol had been crying, her eyes were red and she kept bringing a tissue to her nose. Richard had his hand on her shoulder, clearly trying to be strong for his wife. But when Skye looked closely, she noticed his hand was shaking and his breathing was labored. He was holding back his own tears.

 

Skye looked at Richard and saw an older version of Miles. Both were tall with curly hair. Richard’s had gone gray, but it had been dark in his younger years, like Miles. They had the same strong jaw and nose. Though Miles’s dark eyes, those belonged to Carol. Miles would never grow old like his parents did. Never fall in love and get married like they did.

 

Ward took Carol and Richard’s baby boy away from them. He was their only child, and now they would never have daughter-in-law or grandchildren. She couldn’t imagine all the tears they had shed since they learned about his death.

 

Skye thought for a moment what might have happened if she never left Austin, if she and Miles had stayed together. Would they be married by now? Would they have had children? Would they be happy? Contemplating this was painful for her. She knew it would have been better if she and Miles had never met.

 

“If everyone would please take your seats,” Skye heard a voice from the front of the tent. She looked up and it was a pastor. Miles had never been particularly religious. He didn’t go to church every Sunday or anything, but he was raised Christian. It didn’t surprise Skye that his parents wanted to honor that for his funeral. Skye squeezed Fitz’s hand as everyone began to sit down.

 

The service wasn’t very long. The pastor said a prayer, and Miles’s parents spoke about their times with their son, the good memories they had shared. Skye could tell they were barely holding it together. Then one of Miles’s best friends, a hacker friend of hers, Liam, shared his words about Miles. Liam might have been the funniest and silliest person Skye had ever met. To see him look so hurt and broken had Skye in tears again. His hands were shaking as he finished his speech.

 

“And-and I think Miles wouldn’t want us to cry over him,” Liam said. “He’d joke about how I’m crying right now. He would want us to be happy with the time we spent with him, and to be able to move on.” Liam brought his hand to his eyes as the tears started flowing. He sat back down in his chair. Skye saw him bent over and shaking.

 

The pastor came back up and said a closing prayer. Skye and Fitz bowed their heads respectively. Then Miles’s coffin started to lower into the ground. The pastor said there would be a reception at Carol and Richard Lydon’s house that everyone was invited to attend. The crowd stood up and began to speak to each other again, some were leaving.

 

Skye stood up, and when she did, so did Fitz.

 

“No, stay here, okay?” she said.

 

Fitz looked at her.

 

“I’m gonna go talk to his parents,” she told him.

 

Fitz nodded and sat back down.

 

Skye approached Miles’s parents. She wasn’t sure why, but she needed to speak with them, to be with people that loved Miles. Despite Fitz’s help and the team’s sympathy, they didn’t know Miles; his death would sadden them, but not hurt them. Skye needed to share her grief with others; she had been alone with it for too long.

 

A few people were crowding around Carol and Richard, offering their condolences. Skye waited patiently for them to clear out. But when there were still a few people in front of her, Carol caught sight of her. Skye gave her a shy wave.

 

“Will you excuse me?” Carol said to the woman she was talking to. She approached Skye, pulling Richard with her.

 

“Skye?” Carol said. “Is that you?”

 

“It’s me,” Skye said. Her cheeks were still tear stained, and she was trying not to cry in this moment.

 

“Well, I’ll be,” Richard said.

 

Carol took her in her arms and held her tight. Skye hugged her back, burying her face into her shoulder. A few tears came out then, she was unable to hold them in.

 

When Carol let her go Richard hugged her too. He was a big guy, Skye always thought of him as a teddy bear.

 

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Carol said when Skye let go of Richard.

 

“I…heard about what happened,” Skye said. She knew she couldn’t tell them what really happened. “I wanted to be here.”

 

“We’re so happy you came. How have you been?” Carol asked.

 

“I’m fine,” Skye lied. “I was until I heard about Miles anyway. I am so sorry this happened.” She needed to apologize, even if they didn’t know what she really meant, that this was all her fault.

 

Carol took a deep breath. “We’ll be fine. It will take a while, but we’ll be fine.”

 

Richard nodded, but neither of them looked like they’d be fine.

 

“Are you coming to the reception?” Richard asked.

 

“Oh, I don’t know if I should—”

 

“Oh, you must come,” Carol said. “I insist. It’s been too long since we’ve seen you.”

 

Skye couldn’t find it in herself to tell them no. They both looked too heartbroken already.

 

“It’s at your house?” Skye asked.

 

“Yes, you remember where that is?” Carol asked, a small smile appeared on her face.

 

“Of course I do. I’ll be there,” Skye said.

 

“Oh good,” Carol said as she gave her another hug. “We’d better get back there. We’ll see you soon.”

 

Carol and Richard walked out of the tent, leaving Skye to consider the reception. She wasn’t in love with the idea of seeing a few of her hacker friends. They probably knew something was going on, and maybe knew it involved her. After all, the day Ward had taken Miles, the day he had died, she asked a few of them to be on the look out for Ward. But she couldn’t blow off the Lydons. She sighed and returned to Fitz, who was still sitting. Most of the others had gone.

 

Skye took his hand and pulled him up. As they exited the tent, she said to him, “I’m going to the reception.”

 

Fitz nodded. For the last few days, he had just let her be. If she wanted to do something, he was understanding and didn’t oppose it.

 

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Skye asked.

 

“If you want to go,” Fitz said.

 

Skye nodded and they walked for a moment in silence, still hand in hand.

 

“It was a nice service,” Fitz said.

 

“It was,” Skye agreed. She stopped then, and Fitz stopped with her. “Thank you, Fitz,” she said as she faced him. “For coming with me. You didn’t have to do this.”

 

“I wanted to come,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to be alone.”

 

Skye felt tears stinging in her eyes again at his words. Fitz had done a lot for her recently. She couldn’t believe that just over a week ago, they were barely speaking. Skye put her arms around Fitz and clung to him. Fitz’s arms went around her shoulders as he held her. They stood there for a moment, wrapped up in each other, before Skye lifted her head to look at his face. They were close together, just like when he found her in the gym, except now they were holding each other tightly. Fitz’s hand came up to brush her hair behind her ear. She leaned into his touch but kept her eyes on him.

 

Skye didn’t know what they were to each other lately. Nothing had happened, but they had been spending a lot of time holding hands or hugging. They were staring at each other from across the room a lot as well. He wasn’t her friend anymore, it was something else. But she couldn’t label it just yet.

 

 _Not now_ , the voice in her head told her again. The timing was still terrible. She let go of him and stepped away.

 

“I should get over there,” she said.

 

*****

 

Skye had decided to go the reception by herself. If she went with Fitz, people might ask more questions, and his lying wasn’t great as of recently. It was best if she went alone. Fitz and Bobbi were outside the house with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team.

 

It didn’t take long for her hacker friends to approach her. They had a lot of questions about what she had been doing, if S.H.I.E.L.D. was still around, who she was working for, and a whole bunch of questions that she had to deflect. Not like she could tell them that the organization they all hate was up and running. When she went to them for information, she had told them that she was consulting for some cops in Los Angeles, but none of them really believed her.

 

After a few minutes of being bombarded with questions, Liam pulled her aside.

 

“Skye, why did you have me looking for that Hydra guy?” he asked her.

 

Skye tried to play it off. “He’s a bad guy we need to catch. What’s there to tell?”

 

“It just happened to be the same day Miles was murdered?” he asked urgently, he knew she was bullshitting.

 

“I don’t know what to tell you, Liam,” Skye said, but she felt bad. Liam just wanted the truth. “Coincidences do happen.” She tried to walk away.

 

“Like hell they do,” Liam grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her back.

 

It took a lot for Skye to not break Liam’s wrist right then and there. That was a physical threat, and May had taught her how to handle threats.

 

“ _Tell me what happened_ ,” Liam said. He was angry.

 

“Liam, I don’t want to hurt you,” Skye said, keeping her calm. “Do yourself a favor and let go of my arm, because I really don’t want to cause a scene.”

 

He still looked angry for a moment before letting go. “I’m sorry, Skye. I just…I need to know what happened.”

 

“I know, Liam,” Skye said. She wasn’t mad, but he needed to keep his cool. “I can promise you this, though. I am doing everything I can to find Miles’s killer. _Please_ trust me.”

 

Liam stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Okay, I’ll trust you,” he said. “For Miles.”

 

“Tell your friends to do the same,” Skye said and she turned to walk away.

 

Skye entered the kitchen and scanned the table of food. It was difficult to be around so many people from her past. Things were so different now. Her hacker friends hardly looked at her as a friend anymore. She was practically an enemy to them since she went to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. But she hoped Liam would trust her.

 

Skye felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around. Carol was there, holding a bouquet of red roses.

 

“These arrived for you a little while ago,” she said as she handed the roses to her.

 

“That can’t be right,” Skye said. “No one even knows I’m here.”

 

“Well, your name is on the card,” Carol told her and pointed it out. There was indeed a card with her name on it. “Must be for you.”

 

Skye took the roses, confused. She wondered if another old friend of hers had somehow sent them to her.

 

Then it hit her. The only person that would send her red roses at the reception for the man that he murdered. Ward. They must be from him.

 

“If you’ll excuse me, Carol,” Skye said, and she sped towards the bathroom.

 

Once she was in and locked the door behind her, she quickly searched through the roses, wondering if Ward would have put a bomb in the flowers. That seemed like his style. There didn’t seem to be anything there. Then she turned her attention to the card. As she picked it up, she could tell there was something inside it, something round.

 

Carefully, she opened the envelope, worried about what was inside. She unsealed it and looked inside. When she saw what it was, she threw a hand over her mouth and felt tears stinging at her eyes once again.

 

Miles’s bracelet. The one Coulson had given him to keep him from hacking. The same kind she had worn for months when she had lost the team’s trust. It was covered in dried blood, Miles’s blood from when Ward tortured him.

 

Skye’s breathing had started to pick up. She hadn’t even noticed that the bracelet was missing from Miles’s wrist when she saw him, it completely slipped her mind. Ward must have taken it for this very purpose.

 

She slowly put the bracelet back in the envelope, picked up the flowers, and left the bathroom. She needed to leave.

 

On her way out, she gave a quick goodbye to Carol and Richard, telling them she was sorry but she couldn’t stay longer. They both hugged her and she went out the door.

 

Bobbi was leaning on the S.H.I.E.L.D. car as Skye approached it. When Bobbi caught sight of her, she stood up straight.

 

“Ready to go?” she asked.

 

When Skye reached her, she showed her the flowers and handed her the envelope. Bobbi took the envelope and looked inside.

 

“Ward?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” Skye said. “That’s the bracelet S.H.I.E.L.D. gave Miles to keep him from hacking. Ward sent it to me with the flowers.”

 

“Sick bastard,” Bobbi muttered. “We should go.”

 

Skye nodded and climbed into the backseat of the car. Bobbi waved to the car with the team behind them to follow.

 

Fitz was sitting in the backseat. His eyes went straight to the flowers when she sat down and shut the door. “Ward?” he asked.

 

“Ward,” Skye confirmed. Bobbi got into the front seat and started driving off. “He sent me Miles’s no hacking bracelet.”

 

Fitz stared at her. “I’m sorry, Skye.”

 

“I know,” Skye said. “Me too.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. I know the action has been slow, but it'll pick up again soon, I promise.


	10. Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a sweeter, funnier chapter. I hope you like it.

“We found him.”

 

Coulson looked up and saw Skye and Fitz standing at the door to his office. Skye was holding her laptop and they were both staring at him.

 

“Are you sure?” he asked.

 

“Positive,” Skye said.

 

Coulson nodded and pressed a few buttons on his tablet. May’s face popped up on the screen.

 

“What is it, Coulson?” May asked.

 

“Skye and Fitz found Ward,” Coulson told her. “Get the team in my office. Five minutes.”

 

May nodded and hung up.

 

Exactly five minutes later, May, Bobbi, Hunter, Mac, Simmons, and Trip were sitting at the table in Coulson’s office. Coulson sat at the head of the table and gestured for Skye and Fitz to start the briefing.

 

Skye put up the footage on the big screen.

 

“An hour ago, Ward was in the Houston train station,” she began, pointing him out of the screen. “He picked up a bag from a locker. This was one of his drop sites. After he picked it up, he left.”

 

“We were able to track his movements from the train station,” Fitz said as Skye pulled up the rest of the footage. “He checked in to this Motel 6, and he hasn’t moved since.”

 

Coulson stood up. “We don’t have a lot of time then. May, take Bobbi, Hunter, and Trip to Houston. I’ll contact Talbot; see if he can send a few men over. It’s the government that wants him, not us. Hopefully they can take him in.”

 

Skye was staring at Coulson; he didn’t say she was going too.

 

May nodded, then looked to the agents Coulson listed off. “You heard him, suit up. Wheels up in five.”

 

May got up and left the room, Bobbi, Hunter, and Trip right behind her.

 

Skye was still staring at Coulson, but he wasn’t meeting her eyes. She noticed Mac and Simmons looked as confused as she was feeling.

 

“Sir?” Skye said, trying to get Coulson’s attention.

 

“What is it, Skye?” Coulson asked, finally looking at her.

 

“I should be on this mission. May is my S.O. and Trip is practically my partner. Why am I staying behind?”

 

“You’re the target, Skye,” Coulson said. “I’m not sending you on any missions until we’ve found him. Ward will clearly do whatever it takes to get to you, and I am not going to let that happen. You’re staying in this base until I say otherwise.”

 

“That’s ridiculous,” Skye got out, she was shocked at how he was treating her. “I’m an agent—”

 

“And I just gave you an order. You’re not leaving.” Coulson didn’t look angry, he almost looked sad. He rarely spoke to her like this.

 

Skye stared at him silently for a moment before slamming her laptop shut and storming out the door. He was treating her like a child. It’s true, last time Ward got his hands on her, Coulson had to come to her rescue. But things were different now. She was different now. Ward couldn’t make her his victim like he could before. She could handle herself.

 

Skye entered her bunk and threw her laptop down on the chair. She fell onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. The idea of the team going on this mission without her was driving her crazy. She knew they could handle themselves. Hell, they had all been agents longer than her. But it wasn’t fair that she was staying in the base while every other field agent was out there risking their lives.

 

After a while of lying there, Skye heard a knock on her door.

 

“Yeah?” she called out.

 

The door opened, and Simmons was there.

 

“Hey,” Simmons said. “The team just left.”

 

Skye nodded. “Thanks for the update.”

 

Simmons approached her. “May I sit?” she asked.

 

Skye shrugged, but sat up.

 

Simmons sat down next to her on the bed. “When they reach Houston, we’re going to need your help,” she said.

 

“I know, I know,” Skye knew they would have to keep an eye on the cameras and make sure Ward didn’t go anywhere. “Is Fitz watching the cameras now?”

 

“Yes, he and Mac both are,” Simmons said.

 

Skye nodded.

 

“I know you’re frustrated about being left behind, Skye,” Simmons said. “But part of you must know, it’s for the best. Your safety is important.”

 

“And what about the safety of the rest of the team? Why should I get to stay here while they’re out risking their necks?” Skye asked.

 

Simmons sighed. “If Ward caught sight of you, Skye, who knows what he would do? Right now, we have the element of surprise. But if you went along, it would be like dangling a piece of meat in front of a shark. He would be even more unpredictable than he already is.”

 

“But I’m _not_ a piece of meat!” Skye couldn’t bring herself to listen. “I’m an agent! Not a helpless little girl. He can’t hurt me like he used to!”

 

Simmons wasn’t deterred by her outburst. “You’re right, you are an agent. In fact, you’re one of our best agents. But Skye, Coulson is scared of the lengths Ward will go to so he can get to you. _I’m_ scared too. We all are. Please, remember, it took everything May had to bring him down last time, and May is the best we have.”

 

Skye knew what she was saying made sense. She was starting to calm down, but she still wished she was out there. “I just wish none of this was happening.”

 

Simmons put her arm around her and rested her head on Skye’s shoulder. “I know. Me too.”

 

They sat there in silence for a moment, comforting each other. But there was something Skye had wanted to say to Simmons for a few days now, something she needed to get out.

 

“This is seriously the worst time to talk about this…” she started.

 

Simmons looked up at her.

 

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Skye said.

 

“Oh, is this about you and Fitz?” Simmons asked.

 

Skye stared at her in shock. “How did you—?”

 

Simmons chuckled. “Skye, you two have not been at all subtle. You walk around holding hands; you stare at each other from across the room all the time. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, and I’m fairly intelligent if you hadn’t noticed.”

 

Skye let out a laugh. She should have known everyone had noticed. She lives with a bunch of spies for god’s sakes.

 

“Does everyone else know too?” Skye asked.

 

“Oh yes,” Simmons had a smile on her face. “Bobbi and I had a bet going, about when you would finally say something to one of us. I just won. She didn’t think it would be until after this whole mess had died down. I knew you’d talk about it earlier.”

 

Skye laughed again. “I just…I did want to ask you something.”

 

Simmons cocked her head to the side.

 

“I know you two…well, I know he said he had feelings for you, and I wanted to make sure you’d be okay with this,” Skye got out. It was certainly awkward asking a friend if it was okay to date their best friend.

 

“Oh, that,” Simmons sighed. “I never thought of him that way. I was shocked when he said that to me. And based on the way he’s been acting around you, I’d bet he’s over me. But if you’re looking for my blessing, you have it.”

 

Skye let out a breath. She was happy to know there wouldn’t be any tension over this.

 

“So…?” Simmons nudged her with her shoulder, giving her a knowing look.

 

“So what?” Skye asked.

 

“Have you kissed him yet?” Simmons burst out. It seemed that she had been holding in that question for a while.

 

“Jemma Simmons!” Skye said, giving her a feigned shocked expression. “And here I thought you were a lady!”

 

“Where on earth did you get that impression?” Simmons laughed.

 

“Well, what about you and Trip?” Skye shot back.

 

Simmons blushed and sputtered. “I-I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Yeah, right!” Skye said. “You two can’t keep your hands off each other! He gave you a _piggy back ride_ the other day!”

 

“Purely in the name of science,” Simmons said, but she was laughing. “I wanted to see how long he could carry me before getting tired.” She put her face in her hands. She was still blushing. “It took a long time.”

 

“So…are you guys…well, you know what I’m asking!” Skye said.

 

Simmons pulled her hands away from her face and looked at Skye, she was beet red. “Yes, since I got back from being undercover.”

 

Skye threw her arms around her and laughed. “I’m so happy for you.”

 

Simmons hugged her back. “I’m happy for you and Fitz too. Though I am worried about Trip being on this mission.”

 

Skye pulled back and looked at her.

 

“I’m glad I can finally talk to you about this,” Simmons said. “He’s a field agent, he goes on more missions than I do. I’m usually in the lab, besides my time at Hydra. I hate when he goes out, and it’s always a relief when he comes back.”

 

“I wish I was out there with him, so I could have his back,” Skye said. Her mind was back on the mission, and how worried she was for everyone.

 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Simmons said. “If I had it my way, everyone would be as far away from Ward as possible.”

 

“I know, me too.”

 

They sat there together, both worried about the team and worried about what may happen on the mission.

 

“I can’t believe we just talked about boys like we’re twelve-year-olds at a sleepover,” Skye said.

 

“I know, it feels so silly,” Simmons said.

 

“I’m kind of glad we did it,” Skye looked at her. “Got my mind off of reality for a few minutes.”

 

Simmons nodded.

 

“Well, reality is waiting for us,” Skye said as she stood up. “We should go help Mac and Fitz.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I wanted to incorporate more of Simmons and Skye's relationship. I promise some action in the next chapter though, when the mission happens. Be afraid.


	11. Red Alert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back into the action in this chapter. It's not very long, I know, but stuff happens...

“Shouldn’t we clear the building first?” Bobbi asked as she stepped out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. van. She was in her tactical suit. May, Trip, and Hunter were also dressed for a fight. They had arrived at about the same time as Talbot’s men.

 

“We can’t risk tipping him off,” May told her as she shut the door to the van. Talbot’s soldiers were approaching them, expecting orders. May waited until they were all gathered around before she began, “We have a high risk target in this building, room 16A. Grant Ward, tall, white male with dark features,” she directed Ward’s description towards the soldiers. “Our orders are to capture, not kill. But it’s advised that we use any means necessary to bring him down. Questions?”

 

The group stayed silent.

 

“Good. Bobbi, Hunter, Trip, you’re with me. The rest of you, I want you covering any exits to this motel. If he gets past us and tries to run, shoot him.”

 

The soldiers nodded and began to disperse, following May’s orders.

 

May looked to her S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and took the lead. They followed as they approached the motel. They had to go around back. Ward was on the first floor, and the rooms were at the back of the building. For a fleeting moment, May was reminded of when she and the team were staying in a motel after Ward’s betrayal when they lost the plane.

 

“Coulson, we’re approaching the room,” May said into her comm.

 

“Be safe,” Coulson said to her.

 

As they got closer to the door, each of them had their hands on their guns in their holsters, not drawing them quite yet. May could see that the curtains of the room were closed, and the team was being silent. There was no way Ward could tell they were coming. When they reached the door, they looked to each other. May nodded at Trip, and they all took out their guns. Trip stood in front of the door and looked back at May. When she nodded at him again, he kicked the door open. The four of them all pointed their guns into the room, ready to shoot.

 

The room was empty.

 

They looked at each other, confused. May stepped into the room, keeping her guard up. She did a quick search, the closet, the bathroom, under the bed, he wasn’t there. She looked back at her three agents and shook her head. She motioned for them to enter the room.

 

“Search the place,” she said to them. “Coulson,” she spoke into her comm again. “He’s gone.”

 

“That’s not possible,” Coulson said into her ear. “We’ve had our eyes on the cameras since you left. He hasn’t moved.”

 

“Well, he’s not here,” May was frustrated. She wanted nothing more than to catch Ward and put him where he belongs. He had caused so much harm since he had escaped, harm she could have prevented if she had just put him down when she had the chance.

 

“Is there another exit to the room?” Coulson asked.

 

May looked around. There was the window, but it was next to the door, so that couldn’t be it. _Wait…_ She went into the bathroom. There was a small window close to the ceiling. She checked to see if it could be opened, and it could. But she couldn’t tell if it was big enough to fit someone of Ward’s size. “Trip, come here,” she called.

 

Trip entered the bathroom. “What is it?”

 

“Could you fit through that?” she pointed to the window.

 

Trip looked at it for a moment before opening the window and pulling himself up. For a moment, he struggled to squeeze himself through. But after a minute, his legs were on the other side with the rest of his body. Trip looked back in through the window. “Yep. This leads right out to the street. This is the way I’d go if I were him.” He put his legs back through and slid back into the bathroom.

 

“Coulson, there’s a window in the bathroom he must have gone through,” she said to him. “See if there are any cameras that point to the street on the other side of the building. He couldn’t have left too long ago.”

 

“We’re on it,” Coulson was exasperated, May could tell.

 

May exited the bathroom. Trip stayed to look around. Bobbi and Hunter seemed to be shuffling through something on the desk.

 

“Did you find something?” May asked them.

 

“Yeah, we did,” Bobbi said.

 

“A very creepy something,” Hunter added, but he seemed mad.

 

“Look at these,” Bobbi handed her what looked like photographs.

 

May looked at them. It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing. The first one was of Bobbi. She was standing against a car, but there was a cross over the picture, meeting directly at her face. As if…

 

_As if through the sightline of a rifle._

 

Ward had been pointing his rifle at Bobbi, directly at her head, and taken a picture of it.

 

“When was this taken?” May asked her.

 

“This was when I took Skye and Fitz to Miles’s funeral. I was parked on the street. He must have been in a building across from me,” Bobbi said.

 

May nodded and looked back at the pictures. The next one was of Fitz. He was standing with Skye, holding her hand. May continued through the pictures, and all the rest were of Fitz and Skye. The last three were of the two of them holding each other. Fitz had his hand on Skye’s face, they were very close together, almost kissing, and Ward’s rifle was trained right on his head…

 

“I don’t think Ward has taken too kindly to Skye and Fitz’s…relationship,” Bobbi said.

 

“Yeah, he kept taking pictures of those two. He clearly left these for us to find,” Hunter said. “He knew we were coming. Why would he just leave these here?”

 

“I don’t know,” May said, but something was starting to form in her mind. “Unless this is some kind of—”

 

“BOMB!” Trip’s voice rang out as he shot out of the bathroom. “THERE’S A BOMB! THIRTY SECONDS!”

 

 _Trap_.

 

“GO!” May shouted to Bobbi and Hunter. They both went out in front of her. This wasn’t May’s first time trying to outrun a bomb.

 

“We have to get everyone out of here!” Bobbi yelled out as they ran past some of the rooms.

 

“There’s no time!” May said, but she passed a fire alarm and pulled it. She heard it go off, the sounds of bells and sirens. She also started banging on doors and shouting, “GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!” There wasn’t much hope in that, but with any luck, some people might listen to her. There was just no time to get everyone out.

 

Trip was leading the pack; a few of Talbot’s men had heard them and started running too. May hoped the rest of them would get out. Talbot had sent them good men. She looked back and saw a few people poking their heads out of their doors. They looked confused. “YOU HAVE TO GET OUT!” she yelled back at them, but she kept running. A few of them started to follow.

 

_There can’t be much time left._

 

When they reached the street in front of the motel, May heard it go off. It seemed small at first, and she was hopeful that it may have been just to destroy his room, but then it started to get bigger and louder. Before she knew it, the explosion blew her forward and into a car. Her head slammed into a window and she heard it shatter.

 

She hit the ground and heard the sounds of screams as darkness swallowed her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! Another cliffhanger! I do try to be evil with cliffhangers. Hopefully it works. What happened to May?! And the rest of the team?! I hope you liked the chapter. At the end, I was thinking of Timebomb by Beck. So listen to that if you want to get in my head XD. More soon!


	12. Impact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the explosion. Who made it out okay and who wasn't so lucky? Hope you enjoy.

_“What the fuck just happened?!”_ Skye yelled as she saw the building collapse on screen. She had joined the others in Coulson’s office to watch the cameras, but they clearly hadn’t been watching closely enough because Ward had left the motel without them knowing. They had just started to look for him again when the building went down.

 

“The entire building just collapsed,” Mac said as he looked up at the screen.

 

Fitz was sitting next to her. She looked at him and he was staring at the screen with his mouth open.

 

Skye heard Coulson from behind her. “May! Agent May! Do you copy?” he was saying into his comm. “ _Melinda!_ ” Skye had never heard Coulson sound so distressed, or use May’s first name. He turned to look at the rest of them. “Get me footage. Can we see if they got out?”

 

Skye turned back to her laptop and pulled up the footage of the front of the motel. At the moment, she could only see smoke and flames. She rewound it to just before the explosion.

 

“There!” Fitz said as he pointed to the screen. Skye paused it. “There’s May. Trip, Bobbi, and Hunter too. They got out just before it happened.”

 

“Play it. I want to see what happened,” Coulson said.

 

Skye played it forward. Trip was at the front of the group as they sprinted out. A few people were following them. Some were the men Talbot had sent, a couple looked like civilians. Just as they reached the middle of the street, the building exploded. There wasn’t much to be seen after that. She could see them pushed forward by the explosion, but everything else was just smoke.

 

“Dammit,” Coulson said. “Agent May,” he was speaking into his comm again. “Do you copy?”

 

Skye looked at Simmons, who still hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the screen. “I should be there,” she said. “They might be hurt. _They probably are_.”

 

Skye wanted to hug her. She knew she was thinking of Trip, and feeling guilty that she wasn’t there to help all of them. Skye felt the same way.

 

“I’m sending a team over there,” Coulson said as he went over to his desk. Skye saw him pick up his phone.

 

“This was a trap,” Simmons said.

 

“Ward set this up,” Mac said.

 

“You’re right,” Skye interjected. “He knew we would find him. It was too easy. We were able to track him right to the motel, and he knew we were watching. I should have known it couldn’t be that simple.” Skye put her head in her hands. May, Trip, Bobbi, and Hunter could be hurt, or even dead, and she wasn’t there to help them.

 

“Hey,” Fitz said. “Hey, don’t do that.” He put his arm around her and pulled her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder. “There’s no way you could have known. Now come on, guys. It won’t be long before the uh, the smoke clears out, we’ll be able to see them soon.”

 

*****

 

There was a ringing sound in Trip’s ear. He could hear nothing else but this constant ringing. Slowly, he opened his eyes and realized he was flat on his stomach. He was having trouble moving. He could see nothing but smoke all around him. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what had happened, but then he remembered. The bomb in the motel. He had been running away with the team as it exploded behind them. He had been lucky enough to hit the grass, and not anything hard. He tried to take stock of his injuries as he lay there. As far as he could tell, he wasn’t hurt. Save for his temporary hearing loss, but that was already starting to go away. Other than that, his head felt fine, the impact had just knocked him out for a short period of time. He could tell he hadn’t been out long, because people were still screaming.

 

He knew he needed to get up. He wasn’t injured, and he had med tech training, the others on his team didn’t. People needed help and they needed it fast. He was able to push himself to his feet after a moment. He stood up and tried to steady himself as a wave of dizziness hit him.

 

The world was chaos around him. He looked back and saw that the building was gone in smoke and flame. There was rubble everywhere. People were screaming; a lot of them were injured. He saw a few trying to help the injured. Cars were flipped over and their alarms were going off. He suddenly missed the ringing in his ears.

 

“HUNTER! HUNTER!” Trip heard Bobbi’s voice from somewhere in the chaos. He looked around wildly, and saw her searching through the streets, looking around cars and people. Clearly she had lost sight of Hunter after the explosion.

 

Trip ran over to her, she was looking through some rubble as he came up and put a hand on her shoulder. Her fist was suddenly flying towards his face and Trip stepped back to narrowly miss it.

 

“Trip! I’m sorry!” she cried out. Trip could tell she was on the verge of hysteria. “I can’t find Hunter!” She went back to searching through the rubble.

 

“Bobbi, wait. I need to take a look at you,” Trip said as he put another hand on her shoulder. He needed to make sure she was okay.

 

“I’m fine! I just need to find—”

 

“Bobbi, _please_ ,” Trip looked at her in earnest. “It’ll only take a second, and then we’ll find Hunter.”

 

Bobbi sighed and turned around to face him. “Please be quick.”

 

She had a nasty gash on her cheek. Trip took her face in his hands. “This is gonna need stitches,” he said to her. Then he looked at the rest of her. “Does anything feel broken?”

 

“I don’t think so, but I can’t really feel anything right now,” Bobbi said.

 

Trip didn’t think anything looked broken in her limbs, and based on the way she was standing, she didn’t have any broken ribs. She looked fine for now, but she still needed to be looked at more thoroughly.

 

“You’re fine,” Trip said. “Let’s find Hunter. Keep an eye out for May too.”

 

By then, the fire department had showed up, along with paramedics. They needed to find Hunter and May before the place got too crowded with authorities. They didn’t need people asking questions.

 

Trip spotted a few of Talbot’s men, and directed the paramedics to them. He stopped to help a few people, but kept his focus on May and Hunter. The explosion had blown them all pretty far away from each other. May had been good distance behind him in the first place when the bomb went off.

 

When he was passing a car, he almost walked by before he noticed a hand sticking out from under it. He looked beneath the car and it was May. She was knocked out, and there was glass all around her head and her forehead was bleeding. There was some glass in her skin. He looked up at the window of the car and saw that it was shattered. He realized then that she must have hit her head on the window, fallen down, and rolled underneath the car. He took her hand and pulled her out, checking her pulse as he did so. Her heart was still beating and Trip let out a breath in relief.

 

He examined her as best he could. From what he could tell, she had a head injury, but nothing was broken. He had been worried about a spinal injury, but it didn’t seem to be that serious. After a moment of looking her over, he saw her head move.

 

“Hey, hey,” Trip said to her.

 

“Where-what…?” she was starting to open her eyes.

 

“You hit your head. You’re gonna be fine,” Trip tried to comfort her.

 

“I don’t—” May suddenly put her hand up to her head and yelled in pain. “There’s something wrong…” she yelled in pain again.

 

Trip didn’t think he had ever heard May in any kind of pain, so he knew this had to be bad, and not a simple concussion. He couldn’t handle this on his own.

 

“Hey! I need some help!” he called to the paramedics nearby. They were tending to someone else.

 

One of them rushed over and crouched down next to him. “Did you see what happened, sir?” he said as he began to look over May.

 

“I didn’t see it, but she hit her head on that window,” Trip pointed it out. “She just woke up and started yelling in pain.” As if on cue, May yelled out again.

 

“I need a stretcher!” the paramedic called out. He turned to Trip again. “Thank you, sir. We’ll take it from here.”

 

“But she’s my—” Trip didn’t know how to finish that sentence. We work together for a secret organization?

 

The stretcher had arrived, and the paramedic was starting to load May onto it. “Do you know this woman? You can ride in the ambulance.”

 

Trip hesitated. He needed to find Hunter too. “What hospital are you going to?”

 

“Houston Methodist,” he said and he started to wheel her off.

 

Trip hated that he was leaving May alone with strangers, especially with Ward out there. But he didn’t have much of a choice. Quickly, he turned around and began scanning the area for Hunter.

 

It didn’t take long before Trip found Bobbi crouched over Hunter. He looked to be in even worse shape than May was in. He was crying out in pain as Bobbi tried to take care of his wounds. She had taken his bulletproof vest off and was pressing it down on his arm. His arm seemed to be broken and he looked to have broken a few ribs too. There was also blood dripping down his face from a head wound. Trip was trying to figure out how he could have been hurt so badly. Then he looked next to Hunter’s body and saw a lamppost. He must have flown into that when the explosion happened, and then hit the concrete hard.

 

“Trip! Come on! Help me!” Bobbi cried out at him.

 

“Bobbi, he needs help. I can’t treat him here.” Trip said as he flagged down another paramedic.

 

Bobbi was desperately trying to stop the bleeding on his arm. When Trip looked at her, he saw that she was crying. After a moment, Trip realized that the two of them have shared more than most people on the team had. Hell, they were married and in love at one point. Seeing the other in so much pain could never be easy.

 

Trip thought of Simmons. He knew she must have known about the explosion. They must have seen it on the cameras. But he wasn’t wearing a comm, only May had been wearing one. He couldn’t contact her and let her know he was okay.

 

The paramedics came over and began to pick up Hunter. Bobbi went with them when they took him to the ambulance. He told her to keep an eye out for May when she got to the hospital.

 

Most people were packed up in ambulances at this point. The fire department had just about finished extinguishing all the flames and Trip was left to ponder what he should do next.

 

“Agent Triplett?” he heard a voice from behind him.

 

Cautiously, Trip turned around. Behind him there was a woman dressed in a tactical suit.

 

“I’m Agent Marshall,” she said. “Coulson sent me to retrieve you and your team. Where is the rest of your team?”

 

“The hospital, Houston Methodist,” Trip said. “They were injured.”

 

Marshall nodded. “Okay, we’ll head over there. Come with us.” She gestured for him to follow.

 

There were three other agents in the car when he got in. Marshall took out her phone.

 

“We’ve got Triplett, sir,” she said. After listening for a moment, she handed the phone to him. “The Director wants to talk to you.”

 

“Sir?” Trip said when he took the phone.

 

“Trip, thank god you’re okay,” Coulson said. “Where’s May? Where’s the rest of the team? Tell me what happened.”

 

Trip took a breath. Telling him what happened was going to take some energy. As quickly as he could, he recounted the events of the last hour, from finding the bomb to getting into Agent Marshall’s car. He had found the bomb underneath the sink when he was searching the bathroom. It was well hidden and he had almost missed it. He made sure to tell him everything he could about what happened to May and Hunter.

 

“Get to the hospital,” Coulson told him. “I don’t want the three of them alone there for long.”

 

“We’re already on our way,” Trip said.

 

“Good. I’ll be there shortly,” Coulson said and hung up.

 

*****

 

Skye had her arm around Simmons as Coulson talked to Trip. The second Simmons heard that Trip was fine, she almost collapsed in relief. Skye kept a supportive arm around her shoulders. On the phone, Coulson mentioned that the rest of the team was in the hospital. But they didn’t know how badly they were injured.

 

Coulson hung up the phone and looked at them. “Trip is fine, he’s not injured. He said Bobbi is okay too. May and Hunter…” he paused. “They’re not in great shape, according to Trip, but they’re alive.”

 

“What happened to them?” Simmons asked, worry apparent in her voice.

 

“May sustained a head injury. Trip said it was bad. She was confused and in pain.” Skye gasped. May hardly ever showed that she was in pain. “As for Hunter, he had a number of injuries. A broken arm, some broken ribs, and a head wound.”

 

“Oh my god,” Mac said.

 

“I need to get to Houston,” Coulson said.

 

Fitz looked at him. “Do you think that’s a good idea, sir?”

 

“Maybe not. But the team I sent on a mission is in bad shape. I’m responsible, and I should be with them,” Coulson said.

 

“Can I go too, sir?” Simmons asked. “I trust other doctors, but I trust myself the most. I want to know to take a look at them.” Skye knew she also wanted to go so she could see Trip and make sure he was okay.

 

Coulson nodded. “I was going to ask you to come with me anyway.”

 

“Sir, I want to go too,” Skye said.

 

Coulson gave her a look and sighed. “Skye, we just talked about this—”

 

“ _Please_ Coulson. Don’t make me stay here while this is happening,” Skye pleaded. “Think about it, Ward just set off a bomb in Houston. He’s not going to stay there when he knows more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will be coming. He’s probably hopping a train, bus, or plane to get the hell out of there right now. Houston is probably the safest place to be.”

 

Coulson continued to look at her for a moment.

 

“Besides,” Skye added. “Who’s going to fly the plane?”

 

“I’ve watched May fly…” Coulson said.

 

“You need me to pilot,” Skye said. “Please, Coulson. Just let me go with you.”

 

After a moment of thinking about it, Coulson let out a breath. “Fine. But you stay in our sight and you never go off alone. Understand?”

 

“Yes, sir!” Skye mock saluted him.

 

Coulson rolled his eyes. “Fitz, you’re coming too then. Heaven forbid I separate the two of you.” Skye heard Fitz chuckle. She turned her head towards him and gave him a wink. “Mac, I know you want to come too,” Coulson said.

 

“I’m guessing that can’t happen,” Mac said.

 

“I can’t leave the base without at least one of us here,” Coulson said. There were other agents in the base, but the highest-ranking agents had been on the mission or were in the room. “Will you take charge of the base while we’re gone?”

 

It was obvious that Mac wanted to go with them, but he nodded. “I will, sir. As long as you update me on the team whenever you can.”

 

“Of course,” Coulson said.

 

“Let’s get out of here,” Skye said as she took Fitz’s hand and led him out of the room.

 

As they walked down the hallway together, Fitz said to her, “Are you okay?”

 

“Not at all,” Skye said immediately.

 

Fitz nodded. “I don’t know how you could be.”

 

“A psychopath who is obsessed with me just tried to blow up four of my friends, injured two of them, and did kill god knows how many civilians, probably just to hurt me. I’m not really sure how to react to this. The only thing I can think to do is go be with them.”

 

Fitz didn’t say anything.

 

“You wish I wasn’t going,” Skye said as they approached the Bus.

 

“I didn’t…say that,” Fitz said.

 

“You were thinking it.”

 

Fitz sighed. “You’re safe here. I just worry about you when you leave.”

 

“But you’re coming with me,” Skye said as she squeezed his hand. They were entering the cargo hold of the Bus.

 

“I can’t do anything to fight Ward,” Fitz said with a huff.

 

“You’re ten times smarter than him.”

 

Fitz scoffed.

 

“Don’t shortchange yourself,” Skye said. They were standing in what used to be Fitzsimmons’s lab, facing each other.

 

“I’m just glad you’ll be in a crowded hospital with agents around,” Fitz said.

 

“And I’m glad I’ll be with you,” Skye put her hands on both sides of his face.

 

Fitz stared back at her, and for a moment, all Skye’s thoughts of bad timing flew out of her mind as she leaned forward.

 

“Ahem.”

 

Skye and Fitz jumped apart and looked towards the entrance of the lab. Coulson and Simmons were standing there. Coulson was giving them a _Really?_ look and Simmons was grinning.

 

“This is touching, but can we get going please?” Coulson said.

 

Skye was blushing, but when she looked at Fitz she couldn’t help but chuckle. Fitz was so pale, so when he blushed, he looked like a cherry. It was the cutest thing she had ever seen.

 

“Yes, sir,” Skye said. “We’re off to Houston.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always have to throw in some FitzSkye. I also recently realized that I'm really building up to when Skye and Ward actually see each other. Hope you're enjoying! More soon!


	13. Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We find out everyone's condition after the explosion in this chapter. Also some cute stuff. Hope you enjoy.

It was night by the time Skye pulled up to Houston Methodist. The hospital parking lot was crowded, probably with families of the people in the explosion. She pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. Coulson, Fitz, and Simmons followed suit. As they approached the entrance, Skye saw Trip standing there, at the front of the hospital. Coulson had called him when they landed, and he said he’d wait outside for them.

 

The second Simmons caught sight of Trip, she bolted to him. When she reached him, she jumped on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him and holding him tight. He stumbled back for a moment before catching his balance and putting his arms around her too. They were still holding each other by the time Skye, Coulson, and Fitz reached them. Simmons pulled her head up and kissed Trip on the mouth.

 

Skye couldn’t help but chuckle as they made out right in front of them. Coulson averted his eyes. Fitz looked uncomfortable.

 

“Um, guys?” Coulson said, trying to get their attention.

 

“I’m sorry, sir,” Trip said as he set Simmons down.

 

Simmons blushed. “Yes, my apologies, sir.” She kept her hand on Trip’s arm, as if she was afraid to let him go.

 

“It’s fine, just tell me what’s happened to my agents,” Coulson said.

 

“May had a pretty bad head injury,” Trip said. He knew May was the first one Coulson would want to hear about. “They told me it’s subdural hematoma, bleeding under the skull.”

 

“Dear god,” Simmons said.

 

“Is she going to be okay?” Coulson asked.

 

“Yes, she will,” Trip reassured him. “But they’re still not sure just how bad it is. If it’s not too severe, she might just need rest and observation from the doctors. But if it is more severe…she might need brain surgery.”

 

Skye gasped. She didn’t imagine it would be so bad. She tried to comfort herself by thinking the surgery might not even be necessary. Maybe it’s not too severe.

 

Coulson was unreadable. His face gave nothing away. “Have you seen her?” he asked.

 

Trip nodded. “She’s in and out. She knows who I am and what S.H.I.E.L.D is, but she gets confused. Some recent events are fuzzy. She thinks the doctors are threats to her, that kind of thing. She took a swing at one of the doctors earlier. They’ve had to strap her to her bed.”

 

Coulson’s mouth twitched.

 

“She’s been asking for you, though,” Trip added. “She kept telling me that she wants Phil.”

 

Coulson took a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “What about Hunter?” he asked.

 

“Like I told you earlier, he had a few injuries, broken arm, broken ribs, and a head injury. But it was just a concussion. He’s fine. He’s still himself,” Trip said, but then he started to smile. “He’s mostly just pissed off and keeps talking about how he’s gonna kill Ward.”

 

“I think I’ve got dibs on that one,” Skye said. Hearing about her friends’ injuries just made her angrier. “Is Bobbi with him?”

 

“Yeah, she hasn’t left his side.”

 

“What names did you put them under?” Coulson asked.

 

“For May, I went with her undercover name from a few weeks ago. Heidi Martin,” Trip said. “I gave Hunter the generic John Smith.”

 

“Is Agent Marshall’s team still here?” Coulson asked.

 

“Yeah, they’re inside. They’ve been keeping an eye out, and so have Bobbi and I.”

 

“Well, let’s get in there,” Coulson said.

 

May and Hunter were in emergency care, as were most of the victims of the explosion. Skye saw a lot of people sitting in the waiting room. A lot of them were crying or looked exhausted.

 

_Ward did this. He did all of this._

 

She also noticed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They were dressed in all black and standing up. She supposed most people wouldn’t look twice at them, but they were obviously agents, looking out for Ward in case he showed up.

 

Before they reached the counter, Coulson turned to look at them. “We shouldn’t all go in at once. Let’s go two at a time. Skye, you can come with me first. Fitz and Simmons, you can go in after us.”

 

“Okay, sir,” Fitz said.

 

The two of them and Trip went to sit down. Skye noticed Simmons put her head on Trip’s shoulder and continue to hold him. Fitz looked like he felt awkward.

 

Coulson and Skye went up to the woman at the counter.

 

“We’re hear to see Heidi Martin and John Smith,” Coulson told her.

 

The woman looked up at them. “What is your relationship to them?”

 

“Heidi is my wife,” Coulson said. “And John is…”

 

“My brother,” Skye put in. “Heidi is my mom.”

 

The woman nodded. Skye imagined that the people at hospitals are often lied to about this kind of thing. The woman typed a few things into her computer.

 

“John is in room 32B and Heidi is in room 40A,” she said. “Go through those doors down there.” She pointed down the hallway to a set of double doors.

 

“Thank you,” Coulson said.

 

Coulson and Skye entered the double doors. Skye glanced into a few rooms they passed. She had always hated hospitals. They smelled weird and the walls and floors were all white. It was like they went out of their way to make hospitals as depressing as possible.

 

Hunter’s room came first on their left, so they saw him first. He had his arm in a cast and a bandage on his head. Bobbi was sitting next to him, and they both looked up as they entered.

 

“Well, it’s about time,” Hunter said. “Here I am, on my deathbed, and you two couldn’t get here any faster?”

 

Coulson cracked a smile. “I’d hardly call this your deathbed. All you’ve got is a few broken bones.”

 

“And a concussion!” Hunter added.

 

“Stop being such a baby,” Bobbi said to him. She turned back to Coulson and Skye, and Skye noticed she had a cut on her cheek that had been stitched up. “Thanks for coming.”

 

Skye approached the bed. “Are you feeling okay? I’m actually asking, not joking.”

 

Hunter sighed. “I’ve had worse. But my arm hurts like a bitch. And I hate concussions. Every now and then, the room starts spinning.”

 

“I’m sorry this happened,” Coulson said. “I should have been more careful.”

 

“It’s not your fault, boss,” Hunter said. “It’s that nutter Ward’s fault. Have you found him yet?”

 

“Not yet,” Coulson said.

 

“Well, when you do, I’d like to have a word with him,” Hunter said. “I don’t think I’ve ever hated someone so much who I’ve never even met.”

 

Skye smiled. “Let’s hope you never have to meet him.”

 

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go see May,” Coulson said.

 

Hunter and Bobbi nodded. “She’s been asking for you,” Bobbi said.

 

“We’ll see you again soon,” Skye said to them as she and Coulson left the room.

 

As they headed towards May’s room, Skye glanced at Coulson. She could tell he was anxious. His jaw was set, like he was clenching his teeth, and his breathing was uneven. She knew he was worried about May.

 

When they entered the room, Skye let out a small gasp. May had her eyes closed, and there were bruises on her forehead. She also had cuts on her face. Like Trip had said, she was strapped to the bed.

 

After a moment of standing there and looking at May, she seemed to stir. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw them standing there.

 

“Phil…” she said. She started to put her head up.

 

“Hey, hey,” Coulson said quietly as he approached her. He took her hand and put it in his. “Don’t put your head up. You need to rest.”

 

“Phil, they…tied me up,” she said.

 

“I know,” he was stroking her hand. “It’s for your own safety. They’re not going to hurt you.”

 

May looked at him carefully before she finally nodded. Then she turned her head back towards the door.

 

“Skye?” she said.

 

“Hi, May,” Skye said as she walked towards the other side of the bed.

 

“Are you okay?” May asked.

 

Skye chuckled. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

 

“Ward wants to hurt…you,” May said. She reached over and took Skye’s hand. “I won’t let him.”

 

Skye felt tears in her eyes. May rarely talked to her so openly. She knew it was happening now because she was probably pilled up, but it still meant a lot to her. Skye took May’s hand in both of her hands.

 

“I know you won’t,” Skye said. “But right now, you need to focus on getting better. You come first.”

 

May nodded and turned back to Coulson. Skye let go of her hand. For a moment, they just looked at each other and Skye was starting to wonder if she should leave.

 

Coulson spared her the awkwardness of just walking away by saying, “Skye, can we have some time, please? I’ll be out soon.”

 

Skye nodded and got up from her seat. When she was at the door, she turned back to look at them. May had her hand on Coulson’s cheek and Coulson had his eyes closed. It might have been the most emotional Skye had ever seen him. Skye left the room and closed the door behind her. Many times, she had pondered May and Coulson’s relationship. She could never tell if they were just best friends or something more. Either way, she knew they loved each other.

 

When she entered the waiting room, she scanned the chairs for Fitz, Simmons, and Trip, but only found Fitz. He gave her a wave. Skye approached him and took the seat next to him.

 

“Coulson wanted some time alone with May,” Skye said.

 

Fitz nodded. “I figured. How are they doing?”

 

Skye let out a breath. “Hunter is hurt pretty bad, but he’s in good spirits. You know how he is. May is worse off but fine I think. She was a little drugged out, but still there.”

 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

 

“I’m just worried about her, you know.”

 

“Of course you are.” Fitz took her hand. “But hey, I suppose I’ll have more in common with her now.” Fitz’s mouth quirked up. “We’ve both had pretty bad head injuries. Though I s-suppose mine is a bit worse.”

 

Skye chuckled. “Just a bit,” she said. “Where are Trip and Simmons?”

 

“They went on a coffee…run. To the cafeteria I guess,” Fitz said.

 

“Oh,” Skye said.

 

They sat in silence for a moment before Skye asked him, “Is it weird?”

 

Fitz turned to look at her. “Is what weird?”

 

“Trip and Simmons, you know, being together,” Skye said. She couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about it.

 

Fitz shrugged. “Not really. I could tell they liked each other a long time ago.”

 

“You just looked like you felt awkward around them,” Skye said, remembering his reactions to them kissing and sitting next to them in the waiting room.

 

Fitz thought for a moment. “Are you asking if I’m jealous?”

 

Skye looked down. “Well…I wouldn’t exactly blame you. You and Simmons do have some history.”

 

Fitz pondered that for a moment. “We do,” he admitted finally. “But I’m not jealous. I want her to be happy.”

 

“So why did you look so awkward around them?” Skye asked.

 

Fitz shrugged. “I’ve always felt weird around…couples.”

 

Skye nodded and turned her head forward.

 

Fitz squeezed her hand. “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I like someone else.”

 

Skye felt her heart flutter. She knew he liked her, but hearing him saying it out loud gave her butterflies. They hadn’t exactly talked about whatever was going on between them.

 

She turned back towards him. “Well, I think she likes you back,” she said with a smile.

 

“Really?” Fitz asked. “You think Bobbi likes me too?”

 

Skye’s mouth dropped and she pushed Fitz’s hand away. “You had better be joking!”

 

Fitz doubled over laughing. “Did I have you for a second at least?”

 

“That was not funny!” Skye said, but she was starting to laugh too.

 

After a laughing for a few moments, Skye noticed some people glaring at them. She shoved Fitz’s shoulder.

 

“Stop laughing. We’re in a waiting room in a hospital,” Skye told him.

 

Fitz stopped immediately. He looked towards some of the people who were glaring at them. “I’m so sorry,” he said.

 

They sat there for a minute, trying to wade off any passing glares that they got. Once Skye was sure people were done, she said to Fitz, “Maybe we should talk about…whatever is happening between us.”

 

Fitz looked at her. “We should. But not right now.”

 

“Of course not. But soon,” she took his hand again and kissed it.

 

“Soon,” he agreed.

 

*****

 

“I’m so sorry,” Coulson said to May after Skye closed the door behind her. “It’s my fault this happened to you. I sent you on this mission. I wasn’t even thinking…”

 

“No, you didn’t do this,” May said to him. Her hand was on his cheek.

 

“I hate seeing you like this,” Coulson said as he scanned her face. The bruises were prominent on her forehead. “It kills me.”

 

“Well, I thought you were dead for a long time,” May said. “I think I have you beat.”

 

That got a small smile out of him.

 

“I don’t feel safe here,” May changed the subject.

 

“Why not?” Coulson asked. He figured it was just the head injury and the drugs talking.

 

“I don’t know. Just a feeling,” she said as she looked towards the door.

 

“I’m here,” Coulson said. “We have other agents here too. Nothing will happen to you.”

 

May turned to face him again. She looked at him for a moment before nodding. “We found something,” she said. “In the motel. Before it blew up.”

 

“What did you find?” Coulson asked.

 

“Look over there. My clothes,” she pointed to a hanger next to the bathroom door. “Look in the pocket of my pants.”

 

Coulson stood up and approached the hanger. Her clothes looked damaged from the explosion, but he looked in her pants pocket and found something. He took it out and realized there were photographs. He took his seat next to May again as he looked through them. There was one of Bobbi, and multiple pictures of Fitz and Skye. There was something else too.

 

“It’s the sightline of his rifle,” May said, confirming his thoughts. “He had his rifle pointed at Bobbi and Fitz. He’s wants us dead, Coulson.”

 

“You’re right,” Coulson said. He got to the last couple of pictures, which were of Fitz and Skye standing very close together. “I’d say we need to watch out for Fitz.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scary, scary. I hope everyone will be okay. Muahahaha. More soon.


	14. Cleansed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and support on this fic. I'm glad you guys are liking it.
> 
> This chapter got kind of long, but I hope you enjoy it. Beware of sexual content *wink wink*

They spent the night at the hospital. After Coulson came out from his time with May, Fitz and Simmons went in to check on them. Simmons looked them both over and decided that Hunter would be fine, but she was worried about May’s injury. They slept in the waiting room along with many other worried families. By the next morning, it seemed that even more people had shown up. Coulson had his team and Agent Marshall’s team on high alert, ready for Ward to slip in through the crowd. As the day went on, that possibility became less likely.

 

“If he was going to do something, it would have been before we got here,” Skye told Coulson over lunch.

 

Coulson had agreed, but he was still being cautious. They didn’t have any real authority, seeing as S.H.I.E.L.D. was no official government agency yet, so they couldn’t put guards on the doors. But Coulson was scanning everyone who came and went through the doors.

 

They were told that Hunter was going to be released from the hospital the next day. As for May, she was starting to look better, and brain surgery seemed less likely. If all went well, she’d be out of the hospital in a couple of days.

 

By the time the evening rolled around, they were all exhausted and uncomfortable. No one had showered or changed clothes for a while, and they were itching to get out of there.

 

“Coulson,” Skye said as they were walking back from dinner in the cafeteria. “Do you think we can go to that motel down the street?”

 

Coulson thought for a moment. “Who else wants to go?”

 

Trip and Simmons raised their hands. Fitz said, “I would. We’re getting pretty tired.”

 

Coulson sighed. “Let’s ask Bobbi if she wants to go.”

 

Bobbi had only left the waiting room to go in to see Hunter during visiting hours, or to go to the bathroom. The team had to bring food to her, because she refused to leave. She had been doing the same as Coulson, watching the door like a hawk.

 

When they reached the waiting room, Coulson approached her and Skye could see that he was asking her if she wanted to go. Unsurprisingly, she shook her head. Coulson came back over to them.

 

“She doesn’t want to go,” he said. “But I don’t feel great about you guys going to be honest.”

 

“Trip and I will be together,” Skye said. She knew Ward probably couldn’t be taken down by one of them, but she was confident that together, they could take him. She imagined they could at least get him with an Icer. “And Simmons and Fitz can shoot. We’ll be fine.”

 

Coulson sighed. “Fine. But you watch out for each other. Everyone stays in sight at all times. Make sure you take an Icer. Or four.”

 

“You’ve got it, sir,” Trip said.

 

They made their way out of the hospital. Skye didn’t see how Ward would still be in Houston, let alone find them at the motel. He was just one agent.

 

The motel was close by. She figured a lot of people who had family in the hospital go to stay there. She did want to stay with May and Hunter, but she knew there wasn’t much she could do for them. Besides, they can’t go in to see them late at night, when visiting hours were over. They’d be back early the next day.

 

When they arrived, Trip went into the lobby as Skye, Fitz, and Simmons pulled out the few light bags they had brought. They knew they would probably be there for a little while, so they brought some extra clothes that they always had on the Bus. Skye made sure that they would each have an Icer.

 

Trip was getting the key cards when they entered the lobby. He took the bag Simmons was holding and gestured to the door. “Our rooms are around the back.”

 

There was a pool behind the motel, and the rooms were lined up next to it. Trip approached one of the rooms and put his key card in the slot. When Simmons stood right behind him, Skye was confused for a moment. Trip opened the door and handed the other key card to Fitz.

 

“Your room is that one, right next to ours,” Trip said as he pointed to the door.

 

Fitz glanced at Skye. He was as confused as she was. He turned back to Trip and Simmons. “Are you two sharing a room?”

 

“Yeah…” Trip said. He looked confused, but then he realized. “Oh, god! Did you guys want separate rooms? I only got two rooms! I’m sorry.”

 

Skye had actually figured she’d share a room with Simmons and Fitz would share with Trip. But she couldn’t help but be kind of amused.

 

“We just figured you two would want to share a room,” Simmons said. “I mean you guys are never apart these days.”

 

“I’ll go get another room,” Trip said as he approached Fitz to take the key card.

 

“I don’t mind,” Skye said. Then she looked at Fitz. “I mean, if it’s okay with you, I don’t mind sharing a room with you.”

 

Trip stopped short of taking the key from Fitz.

 

Fitz hesitated for a moment before saying, “Yeah, it’s fine.”

 

Trip smiled and went back to the door of his room with Simmons. “Well that’s good to hear. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, kids.” He entered the room with a laugh. Simmons glanced back at them and gave them a smile before following after Trip and closing the door behind her.

 

Skye looked at Fitz and almost laughed. He was blushing in that cute way that he blushed. She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, if this is weird, we can get separate rooms.”

 

“No, no,” he said quickly. “I don’t mind. It’s just what Trip said…”

 

“Trip is just being Trip,” Skye said and went to the door of their room. It was getting dark out. She opened the door and looked back at Fitz, who still hadn’t moved. “You coming?”

 

“Y-yeah. I’m coming.” He picked up his bag and entered the room with her.

 

*****

 

“Are you worried at all?” Coulson asked Bobbi as they sat together in the waiting room.

 

“About May?” Bobbi asked.

 

“Well, I think we’re all worried about May,” he said. “But I mean about this whole thing. Ward blew up a building, and just left? That seems off to me. Ward likes to gloat. He did it when he called Skye when he had Miles. He talked to her about killing the nuns and the foster family. That was all expected behavior. Then he sets off a huge explosion that almost kills half of our team, and nothing. Not a word from him. Doesn’t that seem weird to you?”

 

Bobbi nodded. “He is a narcissist. He wants us to know that he’s winning, that he’s done all these things to us. He’s proud that he’s hurt us.”

 

“Exactly. So why nothing now?” Coulson asked. “I’ve been waiting for a phone call from him, bragging about how easy it was for him to get one over on us, but nothing.”

 

A few doctors passed by them with a man on a stretcher. Coulson glanced at them and saw that they were a few of the same doctors he had seen go in and out a number of times.

 

“So what do you think his play is?” Bobbi asked. “What can it mean that he’s gone radio silent?”

 

“All I can think is he’s off somewhere trying to hurt us in some other way,” Coulson said. “I thought maybe he’d go after the base, but that doesn’t seem possible. I’ve called Mac and made sure he was on high alert. I sent him some more agents just to be safe.”

 

“It could be something to do with Skye again,” Bobbi suggested. “Maybe he’s gone after her old friends?”

 

“But what’s the pattern there?” Coulson had already run a few of these scenarios over in his head. “He’s already attacked her past with the nuns from the orphanage, the Hamiltons, and then Miles. Then he went after us with the bomb. So why go back and hurt more people from her past?”

 

Bobbi sighed. “You may be right. But he is a psychopath. Expect him to be anything but predictable.”

 

*****

 

Skye had finished her shower and was waiting for Fitz to finish his. She was sitting on a bed and brushing her hair, which had already started to dry. There were two beds in the motel, so they were spared the awkwardness of one of them offering to take the floor. She hadn’t actually expected Fitz to say yes to sharing a room, but she was happy he did. They said yesterday that they needed to talk about what was happening between them, and this seemed like as good a time as any.

 

She heard his shower stop and started to feel anxious. The last time she had a conversation with someone about romantic feelings, it had been Ward. She scowled at the memory. At the time, he confessed to longtime feelings for her. It had really surprised her, and she couldn’t have said she felt the same way. The most she felt for Ward was a crush. Her feelings for Fitz were much different, something she couldn’t recall having felt before. Not even with Miles.

 

Fitz walked out of the bathroom wearing plaid pajama pants and a white t-shirt. Skye’s heart started to beat faster in her chest as she tossed her brush on the nearby table. They had seen each other in pajamas before, but this was different. They were sharing a room and had admitted to having feelings for each other. This felt a lot more intimate than it had before.

 

Fitz was still drying his hair with a towel. “Hey,” he said.

 

“Hi,” Skye said.

 

For a moment they just looked at each other while Fitz finished drying his hair with a towel. When he put the towel in a chair, he walked over to her and sat down on the bed.

 

“Do you want to...have that conversation now?” Fitz asked.

 

Skye let out a breath. “I’m glad you brought it up, because I really didn’t want to.”

 

“I spent my entire shower trying to figure out how to ask,” Fitz said with a chuckle.

 

“Did you think of how to start the conversation?” Skye asked.

 

“No. Not at all,” Fitz started laughing.

 

Skye laughed too. She really didn’t know how to do this. With Miles, they just jumped into it one night without much talking about where it was going. Sure, they decided to date exclusively, but she was never in a situation like the one she was in with Fitz. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t exactly allow a lot of dating opportunities, and it was the worst time in the world to start something with Ward out there. But they did need to talk about what was going on.

 

“Well, I’ll start then,” Skye said. Fitz straightened up and turned to face her. Skye thought for a moment before saying, “You had a crush on me when I first joined the team.”

 

Fitz sputtered. “I-uh…okay, you didn’t start. You immediately turned it around for me to start!”

 

“Well, come on,” Skye said. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

 

Fitz put his face in his hands. “How obvious was I?”

 

Skye pulled his hands away from his face and looked at him. “Very obvious, but it was cute.”

 

Fitz smiled and took a breath. “You were the beautiful new…agent. You were also pretty cool when you helped us out with Mike. Then, uh, when you joined the team, I was excited about getting to work with you again.”

 

Skye smirked. “You just called me beautiful.”

 

Fitz blushed. “Well how about you?” Fitz turned the conversation on her. “When did you start liking me?”

 

Skye thought about that. She wasn’t sure if there was a singular moment. “Well, I remember being really worried about you after your…accident. Then when you woke up, and I didn’t even know how to handle talking to you anymore. It was terrible.” She paused for a moment and let out a breath. “But I guess it was probably after Ward escaped. When you asked me not to go on the mission to St. Agnes, I realized that we were still friends, even though we had drifted apart.”

 

Fitz nodded. “You hugged me that day. It was nice.”

 

Skye remembered hugging him, and how happy she was that he still cared about her. “But you didn’t always have a crush on me,” Skye said. “You liked Simmons.” She wasn’t sure about bringing it up, but she felt like they needed to talk about it.

 

For a moment, Fitz was silent. “I think a part of me always thought Simmons and I should be together because we, uh, we spent so much time together,” Fitz admitted. “I don’t know, I guess it was just something I didn’t realize before Trip came into the picture.”

 

“Well, what happened to those feelings for her?” Skye asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

 

Fitz shrugged. “I knew after I woke up from…” Fitz paused and pointed to his head. “She didn’t say anything about feeling the same way. So I knew I needed to move on.”

 

“That’s never easy,” Skye said.

 

Fitz shook his head. “It wasn’t. It really wasn’t.”

 

Skye took his hand. “Are you sure you’re ready to move on?”

 

Fitz turned to face her. “I know I’m ready.”

 

Skye nodded. “I think I am too,” she said. “After…Ward, I didn’t think I could be with anyone in that way again. I didn’t love him, but for someone to hurt me so much and claim to care about me…it was just hard.”

 

Fitz leaned forward and took her face in his hands. “Skye," he said. "I will _never_ hurt you like he did.”

 

Skye felt tears stinging in her eyes. “Do you think we can move on together?” she asked.

 

“I do,” Fitz said, and he closed the distance between them and kissed her.

 

 _Finally_. Skye was half expecting someone to burst through the door and interrupt them. It felt like there had been so many opportunities to kiss each other, and they had let them all go to waste. She put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him closer. The kiss was soft, like he was testing the waters.

 

Slowly, she opened her mouth and let his tongue slip past her lips. The kiss became more heated after that. They were exploring each other’s mouths in a way that Skye hadn’t done in a long time. After kissing for a minute, Skye crawled into his lap, straddling his hips. It took him by surprise and he let out a gasp. One hand was roaming through her hair while the other explored her back. Skye’s hands were on the move too. She was running her hands up his chest and to his shoulders over and over.

 

Skye took Fitz by surprise again when she began to pull up his shirt. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing; she just knew she didn’t want this to stop. Fitz put his hands on hers, halting her movements. They broke apart from their kiss for a moment and stared at each other.

 

“Skye, do you—are you sure?” Fitz asked her.

 

Skye brought her lips down on his again. “I’ve never been so sure of anything,” she said against his mouth.

 

Fitz was breathing heavily. She knew he wanted this too.

 

“Okay,” he said and he lifted up his arms for her to finish taking off his shirt. Skye lifted it eagerly and threw it to the side when it was off. Fitz looked down at his chest self-consciously. He wasn’t a big guy. His chest was pale and he had no abs to speak of. She saw a blush forming on his cheeks.

 

Skye took his chin and lifted his face to meet her eyes. “Hey, don’t do that,” she told him. “I want you for you. Nothing else matters to me.”

 

Fitz gave a small smile and he leaned up to kiss her again. She met his lips eagerly and began to push him down on the bed. He moved up towards the pillows and Skye moved with him. When they were settled, she began kissing down his chest, making sure he knew that she didn’t care about muscle. She only wanted him. She heard Fitz’s soft moans above her, and it made her smile. She looked up at him.

 

“What?” Fitz asked when he noticed her staring.

 

“You’re cute when you moan,” Skye said with a smile.

 

Fitz started blushing again and Skye went back to work kissing his chest. His moans started again immediately. When she reached the top of his pajama pants, she looked up at him again. She could tell he was hard and she sat up and pulled off her shirt. When she put her pajamas on earlier, she hadn’t bothered with a bra, so she was sitting there bare on top of him. Fitz had his eyes locked on her and Skye was breathing heavily. It had been a while since she had done this. The last time was with Miles.

 

Taking her by surprise, Fitz sat up and kissed her. She kissed him back eagerly, running her fingers through his hair. He had his hands on her breasts, and he suddenly flipped her onto her back. Skye gasped at the unexpected switch of positions. Fitz was now between her legs and kissing her breasts.

 

“You’re so beautiful,” she heard Fitz say under his breath as he trailed kisses down her chest.

 

 _Where the hell did he learn to do this?_ Skye heard herself start to moan and gasp. Fitz was surprising her at every turn. She put her hand on his head encouragingly as he continued to make his way south.

 

Fitz stopped his movement and looked up at her. Confused, Skye lifted her head and stared at him. “Why’d you stop?” she asked.

 

“You’re cute when you moan,” he said with a smile.

 

It was Skye’s turn to blush as Fitz immediately went back to kissing her. He reached the top of her pajama shorts and looked at her. “Are you sure—?”

 

“Yes, yes,” Skye said quickly. “I couldn’t be more sure.”

 

Fitz began to pull down her pajama shorts and underwear and she helpfully kicked them off when they reached her feet. Fitz sat on top of her and slowly began to pull down his pants. Skye couldn’t recall ever feeling this excited. She had wanted this for a long time and it was finally happening. When Fitz’s pants were off, they were both completely naked. Nothing between them anymore. He leaned down to kiss her again, on her mouth, her neck, and her chest. Skye arched her back and wrapped her legs around his waist.

 

He surprised her again when he slipped two fingers inside her. Skye gasped. She hadn’t expected him to do that. He began to move his fingers and Skye heard her moans in her ears again. She decided to return the favor by taking his length in her hand. He responded the same way with a gasp. She hadn’t been touching him for very long before Fitz pulled his fingers out and looked down at her urgently.

 

Fitz hesitated. “We need a—”

 

“No we don’t,” Skye interrupted as she pulled her hand away. She knew what he was going to say. “I’ve got it covered.”

 

Fitz nodded. He put his forehead against hers as he moved his hand down to position himself. Her eyes were locked with his as he pushed himself into her. They both gasped as it happened. For a moment, Fitz stayed still, and let her get used to the feeling of him inside of her. It was amazing for her. Better than she had imagined. She leaned up to kiss him.

 

At that, Fitz began to move. He was taking it slow, and Skye was grateful. If he went much faster, she wasn’t sure if she could take it. She began moving with him at his slow pace. He pulled his mouth away from hers and began kissing down her neck. Skye returned the favor and kissed him wherever she could reach, down his neck, his chin, his cheek, everywhere. Her hands were roaming up and down his back and in his hair. His hands were at her breasts.

 

“Skye…” Fitz moaned against her neck.

 

Skye could not understand why they hadn’t done this earlier. Everything had been hell lately, but this was the one piece of heaven she could have. While the world fell apart, she had this time with Fitz. Even if they die tomorrow, she would always have this moment with Fitz. She would never forget it.

 

Skye could feel that she was getting close. She moved her hips up to meet with his thrusts. He gasped at the sudden change in angle. He was getting close too. There was no reason to delay any longer. She wanted the pleasure. She continued to roll her hips beneath him, pushing him deeper into her every time he moved. The familiar heat was building quickly between her legs. She pulled Fitz’s mouth to hers as she climaxed around him. She felt it everywhere in her body, and she didn’t think she had ever felt anything better.

 

Fitz followed soon after her, burying his face into her hair as it happened. When he finished, he lay on top of her, both of them breathing heavily. After a minute of heavy breathing, he pulled himself out of her and plopped down on his back next to her on the bed. They stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, recovering from the experience.

 

Finally, Skye turned her face towards him and started giggling.

 

Fitz turned to look at her too. “What are you laughing about?”

 

“We just had sex,” Skye said as she continued to laugh.

 

Fitz laughed too. “Yeah, we did.”

 

Skye picked herself up and put her face above his so he was looking up at her. “That was really good,” she said. “You surprised me.”

 

“Gee, thanks,” Fitz said.

 

“Oh, don’t take it that way,” Skye said as she shoved his shoulder a bit. “You’re just so shy. You blush about _everything_. So where the hell did that come from?”

 

Fitz shrugged. “I’m good at lots of things.” He looked up at her with a smirk. “I did tell you I like to do things with my bare hands.”

 

Skye’s jaw dropped and she grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. “Leopold Fitz!” she cried out.

 

Fitz laughed as she continued to hit him with the pillow. “Oh, come on! That was a pretty good line!”

 

Skye felt laughter come up as she set the pillow down. She couldn’t believe she was actually in post coital with Fitz. A year ago, she would have said this would never happen, that Fitz was just her friend. Things were so different now.

 

As their laughter died down, Skye set her head down on Fitz’s shoulder and cuddled up to him.

 

“Well, just so you know,” Fitz said into her hair. “You were as good as I always imagined you’d be. Better actually.”

 

Skye chuckled. “I’m glad to live up to the fantasy.”

 

“I didn’t think this was gonna happen tonight…” Fitz said.

 

Skye lifted her head and looked at him. She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You didn’t think this was gonna happen when we ended up sharing a room? Your mind didn’t go there at all?”

 

Fitz blushed for what seemed like the tenth time. “Well…maybe it did cross my mind.”

 

“You’re dirtier than I ever gave you credit for,” Skye said.

 

Fitz chuckled at that. “You’d be surprised.”

 

Skye laughed as her finger circled around his chest. “You know,” she said. “You don’t stutter as much lately.”

 

Fitz looked at her.

 

“I mean, you used to need a lot more help finding the words, and you don’t really need that anymore.” She was hoping he wouldn’t be bothered by her pointing it out.

 

Fitz thought on her words. “Huh, I guess you’re right.”

 

“Starting to get better?” Skye asked. “I know the damage will never go away, but you could still get better.”

 

“I am better. Not healed, but better.” Fitz said and he turned to look at her again. He put his hand in her hair. “I think it’s because of you.”

 

Skye met his eyes and felt like she was going to cry. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She couldn’t help but feel butterflies in her stomach. She was smiling as she pressed her lips against his again, and she could tell he was smiling too.

 

*****

 

May was having a hard time sleeping in the hospital. She never liked hospitals. They smelled like death and the food was terrible. It was bad enough to be in a hospital for someone you cared about, but it was always worse when you were there because you were hurt. She had been in the hospital for almost two days and she couldn’t have been more ready to leave. The drugs were wearing off and her head was hurting less so she was thinking more clearly, though they still kept her strapped to the bed.

 

The doctors were telling her that her head injury may not be so severe as to need brain surgery, but they still needed to keep an eye on her. It was a relief though. It wouldn’t be her first surgery, but the idea of brain surgery was pretty intimidating. As long as her luck held out, she would only need to be observed for a few more days before they let her out. She was ready to get back to the base and out of Houston.

 

It was late, so she was surprised when she saw her door open. The light turned on, and one of doctors who had been observing her, Doctor Berry, stepped in.

 

“I’m so sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Martin,” Berry said, using the alias that Trip had given her. “But we need to move a patient in here. It’s a double room and most of the doubles are full.”

 

“That’s fine,” May said. It’s not like she had been sleeping.

 

Doctor Berry propped the door open and waved in a couple of doctors from outside the room. They wheeled in a man who had an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. He had a towel over his eyes and May wasn’t sure why.

 

One of the doctors went over to the door, shut it, and locked it. May quickly went on the alert. This wasn’t right. Why would they lock the door? She was suddenly even more aware of the restraints on her. There were two straps across her chest and two tying her hands to the bed. She knew she had tried to hit a doctor, and that’s why they had tied her up, but now she was thinking it was something else. One of the doctors approached her and stood next to her bed. None of them had said anything since they had come in.

 

The man on the bed that the doctors had brought in suddenly lifted his hands up and pulled off the towel from his eyes. Immediately, May saw who it was.

 

Ward.

 

She opened her mouth to yell but the doctor next to her put his hand over her mouth. Right away, she started to bite him. She could see Ward pulling the breathing mask off and sitting up. The man holding his hand over her mouth wasn’t letting up. She took his finger between her teeth and bit down until she tasted blood. He cried out and pulled his hand away. May immediately started yelling out before one of the other doctors came over to her and put a towel over her mouth. She couldn’t bite her way out of this one.

 

Her eyes went back to Ward, who was smiling at her. May glared at all the doctors around her. They had only been posing as doctors. They were really working with Ward. This was all a set up.

 

Ward sauntered over to her, looking very pleased with himself. When he reached her, he bent down so they were face to face, but the towel was still being held over her mouth.

 

“It’s good to see you again, May,” Ward said. He glanced down at her restraints. “Especially under these circumstances. This is a good look for you, being tied down. We should have tried that.”

 

May shot him a look filled with so much hatred, it could make a flower whither and die.

 

Suddenly, she felt a sting in her arm and looked down. One of the doctors had injected her with something. She immediately started fighting against her restraints, and screaming into the towel, though she knew that wouldn’t help.

 

“Calm down,” Ward said. He put his hand on her cheek. May wanted to spit at him. “This will all be over soon.”

 

May kept her eyes wide open. Hoping to somehow fight off whatever knock out drug they had given her. She couldn’t let herself be unconscious and alone with Ward and his goons. She couldn’t.

 

“Shh, it’ll all be over soon,” Ward said as he stroked her hair. She was disgusted that he was touching her.

 

May couldn’t fight the drowsiness any longer. She felt her eyelids getting heavier as she fought to stay awake. Her arms were starting to go limp and her heart rate was slowing down. She knew this was a lost cause. As her eyes closed, the last thing she saw was Ward’s smile.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Skye and Fitz finally did the do, but what happened to May!? Oh no! 
> 
> More soon!


	15. The Ultimatum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter is up! This one took me some time to write. I don't know, I just wanted it to be done well. Hope you like it.

Fitz found himself stroking Skye’s hair as she slept cuddled up next to him. They hadn’t done the traditional post coital spooning. Instead, Skye fell asleep on his chest. They hadn’t bothered to put their clothes back on.

 

He still couldn’t believe what had happened. His feelings for Skye began a long time ago, but they were clouded by feelings for Simmons and the chaos of working for a secret agency. Things can get distracting. But he had always felt for her. Their friendship meant a lot to him. When they started reconnecting, he was just happy to have her as his friend again. He didn’t even entertain the possibility that she might have feelings for him too until she had almost kissed him in the gym that night. Since then, everything moved more quickly than he could have imagined. Suddenly they were acting like a couple, and then the night in the motel…

 

It was too good to believe. It was strange how he was having some of the best moments of his life during such a terrible time. He supposed part of the reason this started between them was because of the hell Ward had caused. It almost seemed selfish to be happy in such terrible circumstances.

 

Fitz heard his stomach growl. He hadn’t eaten since they had dinner at the hospital. He remembered passing by vending machines close to their rooms. He glanced at Skye. She was still sound asleep. He considered waking her up to enjoy a late night snack with him, but she looked too peaceful. Slowly, he managed to work his arm out from under her head without waking her. When he stood up, he tried to remember where his clothes had ended up. They had been in such a hurry to throw them off; he hardly remembered what happened to them.

 

His t-shirt was on the other bed. He recalled Skye pulling it off of him and throwing it to the side. His pajama pants were on the floor, in-between the beds. He had tossed them there when taking them off. He smiled to himself at the memory.

 

After a moment, he was dressed and was out the door with a dollar in hand. The vending machines were just past a few rooms. He noticed the light in Simmons and Trip’s room was out as he walked by. They had turned in for the night. When he reached the vending machine, he put his dollar in and punched in a number. His chips came out and he turned around to walk back to his room.

 

Fitz heard a door open and suddenly there were hands on his arms, grabbing him. He was being pulled into a room. He immediately tried to pull away and was about to yell out before a hand came over his mouth. He was forced into the room and slammed into the door until it shut.

 

There was a dim light in the room, and Fitz looked at his attacker, already knowing who he would see.

 

“Hey, buddy,” Ward said with a smile. His hand was still over Fitz’s mouth, his other arm across his chest, holding him against the door.

 

Fitz felt panic overtake him. The last time he was alone with Ward, he took the oxygen out of his cell and almost killed him. He couldn’t imagine what Ward would do to him for that. Seeing him was a struggle on its own. He was seeing the face of the man who had damaged him. The man who had tried to kill Simmons. Fitz did his best not to tremble.

 

“Now, I want to talk to you,” Ward continued. “So it would be in your best interest not to shout if I take my hand off your mouth. You know I can snap your neck the second you try anything.”

 

Fitz stared at him. Ward was a lot bigger than him and much stronger. He had been trained so well that it had been difficult for even May to take him down. Fitz knew he wasn’t a match for him. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded, signaling that he understood.

 

“Good,” Ward said as he took his hand off his mouth. He continued to hold him against the door. “So considering the fact that you’re still here, I’m assuming Coulson hasn’t called you yet.”

 

Fitz stared at him, trying to keep his breathing under control. He noticed that his leg was shaking. “W-why would he…he…?” Fitz could hardly speak. It was like any progress he had made vanished with Ward’s presence.

 

“He’s going to call soon. It won’t be long before he finds out about May,” Ward said.

 

Fitz shot him a look. “M-May?”

 

“I took her,” Ward said. He was grinning. “About half an hour ago. It wasn’t too hard, but I had some help.”

 

Fitz could feel his heartbeat in his ears. Having Ward so close to him was agonizing, and hearing that he had one of his friends made it even worse.

 

“Y-you can’t…please don’t—” Fitz got out.

 

“Jesus Christ, can you even speak anymore?” Ward said. He finally stopped smiling. Now he looked annoyed. “You used to have a brain up here.” Ward poked his forehead and Fitz cringed. “But I guess that’s all gone now. Do I need to talk slowly for you to get what I’m saying?”

 

Fitz had never felt so small. No one had ever mocked him for his brain damage, or insulted him about it. He had been surrounded by support and kindness. Hearing someone, especially Ward, say those things wasn’t easy. He was saying out loud what he had felt for a long time. That he wasn’t smart anymore. That people needed to talk slowly for him because he was too damaged to be of any use. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down. He thought of Skye.

 

_You know, you don’t stutter as much lately._

 

She had said that to him. But hours later, he could barely even speak.

 

“I’ll cut to the chase,” Ward said, taking him out of his thoughts. “I have May. I’m gonna kill her. But you can do something about that.”

 

Fitz glared at him. “H-how do I know…you haven’t already—?”

 

“You want proof that she’s alive. Yeah, I got it.” Ward pulled out his phone from his pocket. He poked at the screen for a moment before a man’s face popped up. Fitz could tell it was a video chat. “Henderson,” Ward said to the man on the phone. “He wants proof.”

 

The man on the phone, Henderson, pulled the phone away from his face and directed it on an unconscious May. Or at least, she looked unconscious. She was in the trunk of a car, still in her hospital gown. The phone went closer so that Fitz could see the rise and fall of her chest. She was alive.

 

“You got it?” Ward asked Fitz.

 

Instead of speaking, Fitz just nodded.

 

“Thanks, Henderson,” Ward said and hung up the phone. He looked at Fitz expectantly.

 

Fitz was still trying not to panic. He would have expected Ward to kill him, but it seemed that he needed something.

 

“W-what do you want?” Fitz said as clearly as he could.

 

“Finally, you said a complete sentence.” Ward smiled and patted him on the shoulder as if they were still friends. Fitz did his best not to shove him off. “Well, Fitz, I want the Bus, and you’re going to bring it to me.”

 

Fitz stared at him with his mouth hanging open. He had no idea what gave Ward the impression that he could steal the Bus. “How can I—I can’t…”

 

“Yes you can,” Ward cut him off. “And you will or May will die.”

 

A million thoughts were running through Fitz’s mind about how he could possibly get a hold of the Bus.

 

“W-why are you asking me?” Fitz asked.

 

“Because I knew I could make you do it,” Ward said. His mouth was quirking up, like he was about to smile. “Everyone else might try and pull something, but you, Fitz, I think you’re honest. You’ll bring me the plane to save May.”

 

Fitz looked down. He was asking him to do this because he was the weakest. Everyone else could fight him off, except for him.

 

“Well, and there is another reason…” Ward added.

 

Fitz glanced back up at him.

 

“You’re fucking Skye, aren’t you?” Ward asked.

 

Fitz didn’t know what to say. His first thought was to lie and he immediately went with it. “W-what? No, no, no. We aren’t…I don’t…” Fitz couldn’t come up with any lies, especially not with Ward glaring daggers at him.

 

“You’re sharing a motel room,” Ward said. Fitz noticed that he had pushed him harder into the door. “And I saw you two at the funeral. You really couldn’t be more obvious.”

 

Fitz was starting to breath heavily. This was the last thing he wanted, for Ward to find out about him and Skye, and to take it out on them. He knew his obsession with her would come back to haunt them.

 

“But that’s a topic for another day,” Ward said as he eased his grip on Fitz. “We really should talk about how you’re gonna get me the plane. We don’t have a lot of time here.”

 

Fitz still wasn’t sure how he was supposed to accomplish this. “Do you…you want it now?”

 

“Oh, god no!” Ward said. “May is miles away by now, and I’m nice enough to give you some time to figure it out. Let’s say two days. Until then, I’ll hold on to May.”

 

Fitz panicked at the thought of Ward having May for two days.

 

Ward took out a piece of paper and shoved it into Fitz’s pocket. “You can reach me on that number when you’re ready for the exchange. Now, I think you know that I don’t want anyone knowing about this, Fitz. Don’t tell anyone, not even Skye. If you do or if you try anything funny…well, May is gonna suffer for it. Do you understand?”

 

Fitz nodded. He couldn’t even begin to imagine all of the horrible things Ward could do to May. His horror only grew when he remembered that she’s still injured.

 

“Well, great,” Ward said with a smile. He finally stepped back from holding him against the door. “Okay, so I’m gonna go out the door and leave. Once I’m out, wait two minutes and then you can go too.”

 

Fitz stepped away from the door. It was hard to believe that just ten minutes ago, he was in a state of bliss, and now he was trying to figure out how to steal a plane from S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to save his friend. He couldn’t even fly a plane.

 

Ward gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Believe me, I wanted to pay Skye a visit tonight too, but it would have caused too much commotion. I’ll see her soon enough.” He was smiling. “I know you’ll keep this conversation just between the two of us.”

 

He went out the door, closing it behind him. Fitz stood there in shock. He stood there longer than two minutes, trying to register everything that had just happened. May was in danger, and if he didn’t give Ward the plane within two days, she would die. He couldn’t even begin to contemplate how he was supposed to take the Bus. It’s not like it was easy to miss. It never went anywhere without Coulson knowing about it. This was going to be difficult. He considered telling the team about the whole thing. How could Ward know if he told them anyway? But he supposed that if they made a plan to catch him during the exchange, May would be the first to die the second Ward sensed something was off. No. The only way to do this was to give Ward the plane. Coulson would understand. May was worth more than any plane to him, and to all of them. He would do the same thing if he was in Fitz’s shoes.

 

Fitz took a breath and stepped out of the room. Ward was nowhere in sight. It was unsettling that Ward knew about his relationship with Skye. He had said that part of the reason he was making him do this is because he is with her. Clearly he hadn’t taken the news well, which was expected. Fitz remembered what Ward had done to Miles and shuddered. He knew it was possible that Ward would do something to him for this, but he couldn’t think about that right now. He had to focus on May. She was the priority.

 

When Fitz entered his room with Skye, the lights were on, and she was awake on the bed. Coulson had called to tell her that May was gone.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was done well enough. I'm happy with it. Anyway, poor Fitz! Horrible situation to be stuck in. More soon!


	16. Uncover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definite warning about this chapter, something creepy does happen here. So you've been warned. I do have warnings in the tags too. Hope you enjoy.

Skye was sitting on the Bus, flying back to the base. Coulson had ordered her to go back just hours after they found out May was gone. If Ward could get to May, then surely he could get to her too. He also told her to wait for Ward to contact her, because he would inevitably call to make a deal. He hadn’t killed May; he kidnapped her, which meant he wanted something.

 

Bobbi, Hunter, and Fitz were with her. Hunter was released from the hospital that morning, and wouldn’t be much help in the search. Bobbi offered to stay, but Coulson wanted her with Skye. Fitz had said he wanted to go back to the base with them. Simmons and Trip were with Coulson and Agent Marshall’s team, searching every square inch of Texas for any sign of May.

 

Skye didn’t think she had ever seen Coulson so panicked. He had barely spoken to her, only telling her that May was gone and that she needed to go back to the base. Skye was starting to wonder if he’d burn down Houston to find May. She remembered the look on his face when he was with May in the hospital, how they were so wrapped up in each other.

 

Skye wished she could help with the search, but she knew he was right about Ward. He was clearly still around in Houston or at least in Texas, and putting her in the situation would only add fuel to the fire Ward had already started. But the idea of May being in Ward’s clutches was killing her. She knew how much Ward hated May. May had kicked his ass and fractured his larynx. May beating him resulted in him getting locked up. May was one person Skye knew for sure that Ward hated. She knew that if Ward called her, and gave her demands, she’d do whatever he wanted to save May.

 

Bobbi was flying the plane and Skye was sitting in the living area. Fitz had gone to sit in what used to be his bunk during the time they lived on the plane. Skye noticed that he had been acting weird. He had hardly spoken to her or to anyone since she told him about May. She figured he was just in shock and upset. She got up from her seat and went to his bunk. When she reached it, she knocked on the door.

 

There was a pause. “Yeah?” Fitz’s voice called out.

 

“Hey, it’s me,” Skye said. “Can I come in?”

 

Another pause. Then the door slid open and Fitz was standing there. “What is it?” he asked.

 

“Uh, I just wanted to know how you’re doing,” Skye asked. He was still acting strange.

 

“I’m fine,” Fitz said. He was looking at the floor. “I’m just w-worried.”

 

Skye nodded. “I know. I am too. I’ve been trying to tell myself that May is the greatest agent we have, and that if anyone can handle this, it’s her. But…it’s not helping very much.”

 

Fitz still wouldn’t look at her. She noticed his leg was shaking. “Yeah, yes,” he said. “We’ll get through this.”

 

“Hey, Fitz,” Skye said and put a hand on his cheek. He immediately flinched away from her touch and she drew her hand back in surprise. She had merely been trying to be comforting.

 

“Look, I can’t talk right now,” Fitz said and he slid the door shut in her face.

 

Skye’s mouth was hanging open. She tried to understand. He was emotional over May being gone and he wanted to be alone. It made sense. He looked so nervous, probably over what Ward could possibly do to May while he has her. But a part of her couldn’t help but wonder if another reason he was acting this way was because of what had happened between them. Maybe he regretted it. Especially since it happened when May was being kidnapped. She was feeling guilty over that. While she and Fitz were together in the motel…May was being kidnapped by Ward. She should have been there to help her. Fitz might have been feeling the same way.

 

*****

 

May’s eyelids were still heavy as she tried to open them. She was awake, but trying to get her body to respond to her was more difficult. She already knew she was tied up. Her hands were tied behind her back and her legs were tied to the legs of the chair she was in. She had been tied tightly too; someone was taking every precaution to keep her from getting out of the ropes.

 

It didn’t take long for the memories to come back to her. She was in the hospital when the doctors came in the room with who she thought was a patient. The patient turned out to be Ward. They had drugged her, and she couldn’t remember anything after that.

 

After a minute of effort, she managed to get her eyes open. Her head was killing her, and the room started to spin for a moment. She knew this was due to her head injury. When the room stilled, she was able to focus. As she expected, she was in an empty room, probably in an abandoned building somewhere. She realized she wasn’t in her hospital gown, someone had put her in a pants and a tank top. She was revolted at the idea of Ward or one of his men taking off the gown and putting her in these clothes. Immediately, she started looking for a weapon of some kind. She noticed some chains on the floor. If she could get a hold of those, she could use them to strangle any attackers. But she would have to get out of the ropes first, and that would be a challenge. She struggled against her binds. Her hands were small, so she had that working to her advantage, but whoever tied the ropes really knew what they were doing.

 

She heard a door open behind her and immediately stilled. There were footsteps approaching her slowly. She could tell it was a man based on the heaviness of the steps, she would guess someone tall too. Her first thought was Ward, and she braced herself.

 

When the footsteps were right next to her, she looked up, and it wasn’t Ward. It was one of the men who had been posing as a doctor in the hospital. Specifically, the one whose finger she had bitten when he put his hand over her mouth. She stared at him with no emotion. He was a big guy, probably almost twice her size. She knew right away that she could take him. He was built, but obviously not very fast, and based on his dumb move at the hospital of putting his bare hand over her mouth, he wasn’t very smart either.

 

The man stood tall right in front of her. She stared up at him, not giving anything away. She could never let an interrogator have any kind of advantage; she learned that at the Academy in her first year.

 

He didn’t say anything as he leaned down and put his hands on both sides of her chair. His face was very close to hers, and May didn’t flinch. She knew he was trying to intimidate her.

 

He still didn’t speak as he put a hand on one side of her face and pushed her hair behind her ear. His fingers were running through her hair and down to her neck. May was starting to realize where this was going. This wasn’t an interrogation.

 

She saw his eyes drop to her chest and his hands followed suit. He was feeling her through her shirt. May still didn’t let any emotion show on her face. In her long career as an agent, this was not the first time a man had done this to her when she was captured. He was still touching her breasts as he crouched down to get on eye level with her.

 

“So pretty…” he said under his breath. May felt a wave of anger wash over her when she imagined all the women this man must have done this to in his life. Ward had really picked a great crowd to run with.

 

“That’s enough of that, Henderson,” came a voice from behind her. May recognized it immediately. It was Ward. She heard his footsteps approaching them and he came to a stop next to her chair. “Get out of here. Watch the door.”

 

The man, Henderson, finally took his hands off of her and stood up. He looked disappointed as he walked away from May and out the door, closing it behind him.

 

Ward watched the door as it shut and then turned his face back towards May. “Sorry about him. He’s not all there, you know,” Ward pointed to his head.

 

May didn’t say anything. She refused to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her. She had a feeling he knew exactly what Henderson was doing before he came into the room.

 

“I’m sure you know by now that I’m not going to interrogate you.” Ward grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and brought it to a spot right in front of her. He sat down. “It’s pretty obvious that you would never talk, and I respect that. But I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here.”

 

May stared at him impassively. She figured he was going to contact Skye and tell her she could make a trade. She gets to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. if Skye turns herself over to him.

 

“I want something from S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Ward continued. “And I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s not just Skye. I have bigger plans too. I’m not so one note.”

 

May continued to look at him. She wanted to know what his plan was, but she knew she couldn’t ask him.

 

“Of course, I’m not going to tell you what those plans are, because I have some common sense,” Ward said with a smile. “I don’t plan on letting you get away, but you’re one of the best, almost as good as I am. I wouldn’t be shocked if you found a way to escape.”

 

May almost chuckled at his words. _Almost as good as I am._ Oh, that’s what he tells himself, that he’s better than her. She wished she had a nail gun to remind him of what a great agent he seemed to think was.

 

“So I’m not going to interrogate you, and I’m not going to tell you my plan. How ever will we pass the time?” Ward said. He seemed far too amused for May’s liking.

 

May wasn’t surprised when he took out a knife from his pocket. She had expected this. He wanted some revenge for getting his ass kicked. She still didn’t give him any kind of response.

 

“Well,” Ward said as he held the knife in front of her face. “Let’s see if we can break the ice queen.”

 

*****

 

Fitz didn’t say anything to anyone as he got off the plane. They were back at the base, and it seemed like there were even more agents than usual walking around. Normally, he would be relieved, but now it just made him even more worried. It was hard enough to have to steal the plane, but even harder having to do it while everyone was on high alert and there were agents everywhere.

 

An idea was starting to form in his mind, but he still wasn’t sure how exactly he could do it. His biggest hurdle at the moment was flying the plane. He couldn’t actually get the plane out of there. He knew the plane had autopilot, but he didn’t think it was programmed to take off and land on its own. It’s possible that he could somehow configure it to do just that, but it would take time.

 

Then there was the matter of getting everyone away from the plane for enough time for him to steal it. That would be another challenge, but he was weighing a few possibilities of how to do it. This would certainly be easier if he had some help. He wanted to take the plane and bring it to Ward sooner rather than later. The idea of May being stuck with him and he was the one that had to do something to help her was driving him mad. God knows what Ward would put her through until he got the Bus.

 

His treatment of Skye was also making him feel guilty. He totally shut her out, literally, on the plane, and he had barely spoken to her since the night before. All he could think about was getting the plane and saving May. It was difficult to be around Skye and lie to her face. He considered telling her about the whole thing, but he still wasn’t sure.

 

Fitz sat down in the lab, a plan still forming in his head. The idea he had was to somehow cut the power off in the base. That would certainly cause panic, and everyone would be distracted. If he could get a hold of the plane during that chaos, he could take it before anyone knew what happened. But cutting off the power to the entire base was not something he could just do with the press of a button. It would take some work, and some hacking. Skye would probably have an easier time than he would.

 

“Hey, you’re back,” said a voice from behind him.

 

Fitz jumped when he heard it and turned around in his chair. Mac was standing there. “Oh, Mac. Hi,” he said.

 

“Didn’t mean to startle you,” Mac said as he took a few steps closer. “Coulson called about May. I’m sorry you have to deal with this.”

 

Fitz looked up at him. “Why are you telling me sorry?”

 

Mac raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Well, she’s your friend. I know her, but not as well. It must be tough to have to go through this. I should talk to Skye too.”

 

Fitz let out a breath. He was just being nice, it’s not like he’s suspicious.

 

“Well, I’ve been keeping an eye on any cameras I can find, and watching phone lines, and anything else I can think of,” Mac said. “I get the feeling he’s gonna want to talk to us. Or at least talk to Skye. So I’ve been waiting for him to make a move.”

 

_He’s not trying to talk to Skye._

 

“I could use your help if you don’t mind,” Mac said. “I assume Bobbi will be in charge now that she’s back, but I’m still setting up camp in Coulson’s office, trying to help with the search. You’d be a big help.”

 

Coulson’s office was where Fitz needed to be if he wanted to enact his plan. He couldn’t do it just yet, but if he could look through Coulson’s files on his computer, he might be able to figure out how to control the power in the base. A drop of guilt hit his stomach. He hated the idea of sneaking around, trying to pull something over on the team.

 

He glanced up at Mac and almost told him everything right then and there. The thought of May getting hurt was the only thing holding him back from spilling his guts. Instead, he smiled and nodded. “I’d be happy to help.”

 

*****

 

As they expected, nothing turned up in the search. No sign of Ward or May. Coulson had called them numerous times and Fitz could swear the panic rose in his voice every time he called. He was on the verge of hysteria, and Fitz could tell. He was confused as to why Ward hadn’t contacted them and offered some kind of deal, but he told them to keep looking. He was staying in Houston for the time being.

 

Bobbi had taken charge of the base. Hunter was staying in bed, and Bobbi made sure he stayed that way. The rest of them were holed up either in their rooms, the lab, or in Coulson’s office trying to find a trace of Ward. Fitz had stayed in Coulson’s office, waiting all day and hoping for some time alone to search through his computer. But he hadn’t been left alone yet. Either Bobbi or Mac was always with him. Skye was in and out, and he noticed she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

 

As it began to get late, Fitz observed Mac. He was clearly getting tired and Fitz saw an opportunity for some time alone in the office.

 

“Mac, when was the last time you slept?” Fitz asked him as casually as he could.

 

Mac shrugged. “I haven’t been sleeping a lot lately because of what’s been going on. I wasn’t even sleeping last night when Coulson called to tell me May was gone.”

 

“You look exhausted,” Fitz pressed. “You need to get some sleep.”

 

“How can I sleep when we’ve got an agent out there who needs help?” Mac asked. “If one of us was missing, May wouldn’t stop searching until we were found. So why should I sleep when she’s in danger?”

 

Fitz huffed. He knew Mac was like this, stubborn and hardworking. Not one to shy away from anything difficult. “You’re no good to us if you’re half dead like you are right now. May wouldn’t want you working yourself to death.”

 

“But she—” Mac started.

 

“Mac, I’m asking you, as a friend, to get some sleep.” Fitz felt guiltier with every word he said. This felt like a betrayal.

 

Mac let out a breath. “Fine. I’ll sleep for an hour. Or at least I’ll try to sleep. But that’s it.”

 

“If that’s all you’ll give me, then fine,” Fitz said, still feeling the guilt.

 

Mac closed his laptop and stood up from his chair. “You’re a good friend, but also a pain,” he said as he gave him a pat on the shoulder. He had a small smile. “Keep up the search.”

 

“I will,” Fitz said and tried to smile back.

 

Mac nodded and left the room. Fitz counted to sixty in case Mac decided to come back in. When he didn’t, Fitz immediately went to work on Coulson’s computer, putting the files up as holograms in the room. He started trying to find the more private files, hoping to find the one for the base’s power. He wasn’t planning on shutting everything down now, but if he could figure out how to shut down the power in the base, that was half the battle. Then he would know how to get everyone distracted and away from the plane so he could take it. After that, he would have to figure out how to fly it, or at least program the autopilot to somehow take off by itself and land by itself, but one step at a time.

 

His hands were flying threw the air. He couldn’t move as well as he used to, especially when he was as nervous as he was, so occasionally he would press something wrong or move his hand without meaning to and touch the wrong program. But he was still going faster than most people could. It wasn’t long before he had the more private files and was looking through them. A lot of them were about past missions and he had to skip over all of them. Others were on the base’s security and some were the locations of the many other bases S.H.I.E.L.D. had. There was a lot to sort through before he finally found was he was looking for, the power source for the Playground. He smiled to himself as he pulled the file out of the air.

 

“What are you doing?” came a voice from behind him.

 

Fitz jumped and whirled around. Skye was standing there at the door. She had entered the room without him noticing. Absently, Fitz realized that May had probably taught her how to move so quietly.

 

“Skye!” Fitz said. “I…I’m just…” he quickly tried to come up with an excuse but was drawing a blank.

 

“Looking through Coulson’s private files?” Skye asked. Ever the hacker, she could see exactly what he was doing. She closed the door behind her and took a few steps forward, her arms crossed over her chest. “Want to tell me why?”

 

Fitz stared at her. He knew he was busted, but he tried to think of something to say. “Coulson called and asked me to find something—”

 

“There have been no calls in or out of the base in the last hour,” Skye cut him off. “I would know. I’m watching the phone lines.” Skye gave him a suspicious look. “Want to try again?”

 

Fitz was stumped. Instead, he tried another approach. “H-how did you even know—?”

 

“Pretty sure I should be asking the questions right now,” Skye said. “But if you want to know, I happened to notice that someone was hacking into Coulson’s computer. At first I thought Ward was doing it somehow. So imagine my surprise when I realized that it was coming from inside the base.”

 

Fitz cursed Skye’s computer skills. She noticed everything. Pulling something over on her was never easy.

 

“What’s going on, Fitz?” Skye asked. There was tenderness in her voice that hadn’t been there before. “I really doubt you’re hacking into Coulson’s computer for bad reasons.”

 

Fitz bit his lip. He wanted to tell her so much, but May…

 

“I can’t tell you,” Fitz said and looked at the floor.

 

Skye uncrossed her arms and approached him. She put her hand on his chin and lifted his face to meet her eyes. “Is it Ward?” she asked.

 

Fitz’s breath hitched, and he knew that would give him away. Skye had learned to read a person like a book, and she could read him too. Everything he did would be easy for her to analyze.

 

“It is, isn’t it?” Skye asked. She put her other hand on Fitz’s cheek. “Have you seen him?”

 

Slowly, Fitz nodded. There. It was out. Now she knew, and Fitz was already starting to worry about May’s well being. As if Ward could somehow sense that he had told and now he was going to kill May for it.

 

“Tell me,” Skye said and pulled her hands away from his face.

 

Fitz took a deep breath and told her everything. Everything about seeing Ward to the threat he had made to knowing about their relationship to what he wanted. Skye looked at him with compassion, never once looking angry or distrustful.

 

“I-I have to do this,” Fitz said. He could hear his voice shaking. “Or he’ll kill her. He’d kill her now…if he knew I told you.”

 

Skye put both of her hands on his cheeks and put her face close to his, staring him in the eye. “Fitz, listen to me,” she said clearly. “There’s no way this will be that simple. Even if he let May go, he’d kill you instead.”

 

Fitz nodded. “I _know_ ,” Fitz said. He had already considered this, that it was possible he wouldn’t release May at all, or that he would just kill both of them. “But what else am I supposed to do?”

 

“We need to tell Coulson,” Skye said.

 

“No! No, please don’t,” Fitz said. This idea was even more worrying to him after he had seen the state Coulson was in. “Haven’t you talked to him? He’s hysterical. I don’t want him to know about this. Can’t we keep it between us?”

 

Skye let out a breath and pulled her hands away from his face. “Well, you can’t just go to Ward and give him the plane. There’s no way he would just let you go. We need a plan to catch him.”

 

“But May…” Fitz said.

 

“Fitz,” Skye said with authority. “May is going to die if you just bring him the plane. I can guarantee it. This is _Ward_ we’re talking about.”

 

Fitz hated it, but he knew she was right. Ward hated May, and he wouldn’t just let her go for a plane. “Then w-what should we do?” Fitz asked.

 

Skye pondered that for a moment. “Bobbi,” she said. “Please, Fitz. Let me bring Bobbi in on this. She can help. She won’t tell Coulson if we ask her not to.”

 

After a moment, Fitz nodded in agreement. “Okay, let’s talk to Bobbi.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly a filler chapter, I just needed Skye to find out about this and for them to start coming up with a plan. Shit is gonna happen soon, I promise. More soon!


	17. Lock and Load

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of planning an set up here. Not a very long chapter, but still has stuff going on. Hope you enjoy.

“And you haven’t told Coulson…why again?” Bobbi asked. Fitz and Skye had brought her into Coulson’s office to tell her everything. She had stood there and listened to them without comment until they finished.

 

Skye glanced at Fitz. “Fitz is worried,” she said. “Coulson has been really on edge lately. I guess he thinks Coulson would do something rash.”

 

Bobbi looked at Fitz and raised an eyebrow. “You do know Coulson is director and has been doing this longer than any of us, right? You think he can’t handle this?”

 

Fitz sighed. “I know. Coulson is the best of us. But this is May and we know they’re…close. I just worry about what he’d do to get her back,” Fitz said. “Also, uh, if we’re going to come up with a plan, I-I think it’s better to keep it small. Coulson would send in all of S.H.I.E.L.D. for May. But I think it’s smarter if it’s just us.”

 

Bobbi and Skye looked at each other.

 

“Well?” Skye said. “What do you think?”

 

Bobbi closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. “This is not going to be easy,” she said and opened her eyes. She took a seat at the table. “I still think it’s a better idea to tell Coulson, but since Fitz is the one Ward went to, I guess I’ll respect what he wants.”

 

Fitz let out a breath. “Thank you, Bobbi,” he said as he sat down with her at the table and Skye did the same.

 

“Well,” Bobbi said. “I guess we need a plan.”

 

Fitz and Skye nodded.

 

“How much time do we have?” Bobbi asked.

 

Fitz looked at his watch. It was just past midnight. “Less than twenty four hours,” he said.

 

“Okay, well it’s obvious enough that Ward is going to pull something over on us,” Bobbi said. “Skye is right. He would never hand over May for the Bus. At best, he’d let May go and kill Fitz instead, and that would be if he’s feeling generous.”

 

“So what do you think he’ll do?” Skye asked.

 

“If I was Ward, when Fitz landed with the plane, I wouldn’t have May there. I’d say she was somewhere else, and that Fitz needs to come with me to pick her up.” Bobbi looked lost in thought as she considered this. “He might drive you there, or take the plane and fly there, but I figure he’ll want to continue the illusion that he’s handing over May for a little while. He’d also want to get you away from the plane so there’s no chance you could contact anyone or escape. Then, when you get to wherever he’s taking you, he’d reveal that he’s not giving May over, and take you instead.”

 

Fitz was staring at Bobbi. It was a little scary hearing her talk about this. She could deduce exactly how Ward is likely to behave.

 

“We know Ward has men working with him. He’s not on his own anymore,” Bobbi said. “We saw them in the hospital security footage when they took May. So they’ll probably stay with the plane while Ward takes you to supposedly go get May.”

 

“You really don’t think Ward would just kill Fitz the second he brought him the plane?” Skye asked. That worry had been on her mind since Bobbi started Fitz first told her what was going on.

 

Bobbi shook her head. “Based on what Ward did to Miles, I doubt it,” she said. “I mean, he drew out Miles’s death for a long time, and it was because he was your ex boyfriend. And so, based on your…” Bobbi glanced back and forth between them “…relationship, I would guess he wouldn’t just shoot Fitz. It’s more likely that he’d kidnap him.”

 

Skye and Fitz looked at each other. Skye knew for a while that she was putting Fitz in danger by being with him, and he knew that too, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty. Because of her, Ward had his sights set on Fitz, and if he got a hold of him, would hurt him in the worst way possible. Once again, she thought of May, and worried about what Ward could be doing to her.

 

“Okay, so what do you suggest we do?” Fitz asked.

 

Bobbi’s mouth quirked up. “I think I’ve got something.”

 

*****

 

Ward’s favorite method of torture was his knife, May had discovered. He liked to carve into skin slowly, but also stab abruptly when the victim wasn’t expecting it. The knife had been used on her the most. Her face was bruised from his punches, and he had pulled out all the fingernails on her left hand. He also tried water torture, apparently his first time doing it, shoving her face into ice water for a few seconds before pulling her out and shoving her back in. He didn’t like that one as much because he didn’t get to see all of her pain. The torture was nothing May hadn’t dealt with before. The most difficult part was being forced to listen to Ward’s disgusting words. She hadn’t said a word to him. So far, all she had allowed were a few pained groans and gasps. She refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream, but that seemed to be his goal.

 

For the moment, he was back to sitting in front of her and talking. “I did give you guys everything you wanted. All the information I gave Skye was true, I didn’t lie once. What I gave you saved some of your lives,” Ward said. He was twirling his knife between his fingers. It had blood on it, her blood. “But I guess that wasn’t enough for you people. You beat me, humiliated me, locked me up in a cell, and I give you everything you asked for and you still treat me like trash.” Ward was in her face again. He looked angry. May didn’t flinch.

 

A smile was tugging at Ward’s lips. He put his hands on both sides of her face, still holding the knife. “You’re looking at me like that, like you’re better than me,” he said. “But you’re not. Out of everyone on the team, I thought you were the most like me. I even thought of getting Garrett to recruit you.”

 

May’s stomach churned. This psycho thinks they’re alike. She wanted to snap his neck for even thinking something like that.

 

“Oh, that made you mad,” Ward said.

 

May realized that, despite herself, her facial expression had changed and she gave away her anger. She couldn’t help it; she was starting to wear down after the hours of torture. It was late at night, she could tell that much.

 

“Well, I’m glad to get something out of you,” Ward said. He took his hands off her face and leaned back in his chair. “While this is enjoyable, you’re not as fun to do this to as other people. The hours of trying to get through to you are tiresome. Now Miles, oh, he was fun.” Ward’s grin was back. “I got him to scream with the first stab to the leg. He begged me for mercy.”

 

It took everything May had not to surge forward in her chair and spit in his face. Hearing Ward talk about Miles, someone who Skye loved and mourned for, like he was nothing was gruesome. She knew Miles had suffered before his death, but she didn’t want to hear about it.

 

“I really didn’t like him, hated him even,” Ward said. “Almost as much as I hate you.” Ward pointed the knife at her.

 

May knew Ward hated her. He had made that especially clear in the last few hours. His ego was bruised from their fight, and she took away his opportunity to kidnap Skye when he had a gun on her.

 

Ward put his hand on her knee. “I thought we had something good there for a while,” he said. “I mean, I know you enjoyed it, because even when I was pushing the boundaries, saving you in the field, or going too far with the PDA, you didn’t end it,” Ward smiled and leaned forward. “I must have been pretty good for you to keep it going that long.” Ward’s hand was moving up her leg.

 

May glanced down at his hand. This wasn’t the first time during her torture that he had brought up their relationship, but it was the first time he was threatening her in this way. She looked at his face and he was staring at her with a familiar gleam in his eye. He had looked at her that way many times during their relationship. She felt a sick drop in her stomach as she realized what he was going to do next.

 

Just as his hand was inching higher up her leg, May heard a phone ring. He halted his movements and looked down at his pocket. It was his cellphone. He took his hand off her leg and reached for it.

 

“Yeah?” Ward said into the phone. He sounded irritated.

 

There was silence for a moment and Ward’s eyebrows went up as he heard the voice on the other end.

 

“Well, it’s good to hear from you, Fitz,” he said.

 

May’s eyes shot up to him. Fitz? That was the last person she expected for Ward to be communicating with. She had assumed the person he’d make some kind of deal with would have been Skye. But there was no mistaking that Ward had said Fitz’s name and he was on the phone with him.

 

“Right, right,” Ward said, and took the phone away from his ear. He looked at her. “Hey, Fitz wants to make sure you’re alive. Say hello.” He put the phone to her ear.

 

“Fitz?” May said.

 

“May!” Fitz said. It was a relief to hear his voice. “Thank god you’re—” Ward pulled the phone away from her ear. She glared at him.

 

“She’s alive. You heard her,” Ward said. “Now do you have what I want?”

 

May was worried. What did Ward ask for? Was Fitz going to trade places with her? Did Ward want access to the base? There were too many possibilities.

 

“Great,” Ward was saying. “So when do you want to—?” Ward paused as he listened. “Right now? In the middle of the night?”

 

May was getting anxious. She wanted to get the hell out of there, but she knew there was no way this would be simple when it came to Ward.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re anxious to get May back,” Ward said with false sympathy. May glared at him. “We’re in Lawton, still in Texas. It’s a small town, but a lot of farmland for you to land the plane on. Find the Barker’s farm, they’ve got plenty of acres, and land the plane there. We’ll meet up with you and you can get May back.

 

 _The Bus._ That’s what Ward wanted. He wanted her plane. He could travel a lot faster with it, and could even use the cloaking. The plane would make him even more difficult to find.

 

“Now, Fitz,” Ward was saying. “You haven’t told anyone about this, have you? Because that would be against our rules.”

 

Ward paused and listened. May was hoping Fitz wouldn’t come alone. There was no way Ward would hand her over for a plane.

 

“Well, that’s great. I’ll see you soon then. Let’s say, two hours?” Ward listened. “Oh, an hour and a half. You’ve very eager. Okay, I’ll see you then.” Ward hung up the phone.

 

He turned his attention back to May. “Fitz is coming to your rescue,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll see how that goes.”

 

“You won’t touch him,” May said, surprising Ward and herself. It was the first time she had spoken since she was in the hospital. “If you touch him, _I will kill you_.”

 

Ward smiled. “Is that all it takes for me to get you to talk? To threaten some people you care about?” he asked. “Well, how about this?” He approached May and put his face right in front of hers. “The next time I see Skye…I’m gonna take her.”

 

May lunged forward but Ward moved back quickly and she couldn’t do anything. Her hands were still tied, but she wanted to strangle him. She remembered months ago when they infiltrated Cybertek, when Ward had come to kidnap Skye, and what he said to her.

 

_Maybe I’ll just take what I want, wake up something inside of you._

 

She heard him say it at the time, and it only added to her rage before she attacked him. She wished she could do the same now. Part of her always knew he would try to make good on that threat if he ever got the chance.

 

Ward was still smiling. “Well, I’ve got to leave you now. There are preparations to be made. I’ll see you soon.”

 

He left the room, leaving her alone. The only thing she could think about was Fitz and the team. She hoped Fitz knew what he was doing.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is gonna hit the fan in the next chapter, I promise you. Prepare yourselves. Next chapter will be up soon!


	18. Clash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BIG warning about this chapter. I have those tags for a reason. A lot goes down here. Read on and know you have been warned.

“Are you ready for this?” Skye asked Fitz as they stood together in the cargo hold. Bobbi was in the cockpit flying the plane to Lawton, where Ward had told them to bring the plane. Skye had looked up the address of the farm they were supposed to go to, and they were getting close.

 

Fitz shrugged. “I have no idea.”

 

“Me neither,” Skye said. “I’d prefer it if we were going in with a strike team or the Avengers or something. That would be comforting.”

 

“Don’t give him so much credit,” Fitz said. “The Avengers could take care of Ward in about three seconds.”

 

Skye smiled. “You’re right, they could. I’d like to see that.”

 

“I…I’m just ready for this to be over,” Fitz said quietly.

 

Skye took his hand and looked at him reassuringly. “Well, with any luck, it’ll be over tonight. If we don’t catch Ward, we should at least get May back, and honestly, that’s what I really want.”

 

Fitz nodded. “Me too. Even though I talked to her on the phone, I-I’m still worried. He could have done something right after I hung up…”

 

“I thought of that too,” Skye said and squeezed his hand. “But I have to have some hope.”

 

Fitz gazed at her. “How do you do that?”

 

Skye looked confused. “Do what?”

 

“Be optimistic. Have hope. I don’t understand. Ward has hurt you more than anyone with the nuns, the Hamiltons, and Miles…” Fitz trailed off, not wanting to remind her of all the hurt. “If it was me, I don’t know how I could keep going, but you’re doing it.”

 

Skye thought on that for a moment. “I guess I’ve always been that way,” she said. “When I was staying in St. Agnes, every time a family sent me back, I was heartbroken. I’d sulk for a while, but then I’d be hopeful again. I’d hope that the next family would be the right one for me. Then with Miles, I hoped I found a home with him, and that we could be together. I always hoped to find my birth parents. I guess it’s just a habit with me. Giving up…I’ve never been able to do that.”

 

Fitz stared at her with wonder. Skye had been through so many traumas and heartbreaks in her life, but she managed to keep believing in something better, believing that things would change. He was in awe of her.

 

Before he could think twice about it, Fitz took Skye’s face in his hands and kissed her. It took her by surprise but she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him close. Fitz couldn’t help but smile against her lips.

 

When they pulled apart, Skye was looking at him with a smile on her face. “What was that for?” she asked.

 

“Just…for you. For being you,” Fitz said. He gave her another peck on the lips and rested his forehead against hers. “Please don’t ever change.”

 

After a moment of standing there, they heard Bobbi’s voice ring out from the speakers. “Guys, we’re about to land. Get ready.”

 

*****

 

Fitz thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest as the cargo hold door opened and he saw the night sky. They landed in a spot on acres of farmland, and he could hear the crickets chirping outside. In the distance, he saw a couple of cars approaching the plane. His breath hitched. He knew that had to be Ward and his men, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see him again.

 

_Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan…_

 

His heart rate only seemed to get faster as the cars came to a stop in front of the cargo hold. Men were getting out of the cars. He recognized a few of them from the hospital footage. When they were all out of the cars, Fitz realized something.

 

Ward wasn’t there.

 

He scanned all of their faces again, and glanced behind a few of them, trying to see if he was still in one of the cars. But Ward was not present. Fitz was starting to worry. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

 

One of the men stepped forward and into the cargo hold. Fitz recognized him from the hospital security footage. “We see you held up your end of the deal,” he said. “But we’re gonna need to search the plane. Gotta make sure you don’t have any stowaways.”

 

Fitz could hear his heartbeat in his ears, but he had expected this. “Sure, go ahead.”

 

The man waved the rest of his men forward and they all entered the plane and spread out to start searching. Fitz couldn’t help but feel worried.

 

“Where’s May?” Fitz asked the man who was still in front of him.

 

“We’ll take you to her,” the man said. “You’ll get her and we’ll all go our separate ways.”

 

Fitz almost laughed at that. The guy was overselling this. He heard the rest of the men searching behind them. A few had gone upstairs.

 

“And W-Ward?” Fitz asked. “Where is he?”

 

“He’s with your agent,” the man said. “Didn’t want her escaping.”

 

“Take me to her,” Fitz demanded with as much authority as he could muster.

 

“Hold your horses,” the man said. “Let my men check the plane first.”

 

Fitz huffed. He hated having to wait around for these people to check the plane, and see them walk around it as if they owned it. The idea of these men working on the plane with Ward made him sick. He wasn’t sure if they were Hydra, or just a bunch of lowlifes that Ward had picked up in his recent exploits. The more they checked the plane, the more nervous he got. But they still hadn’t found anyone.

 

A few minutes later, one of the men came up to them and said, “The plane seems to be empty, sir.”

 

The man nodded. “Good. You’ll come with me. We’re taking the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to get the woman,” he said. “The rest of you stay here. Keep looking around, and make sure he didn’t do anything to the plane.” He glanced at Fitz.

 

Fitz let out a breath. He was getting out of there. He knew that if they brought him to May, he might find her dead, or he would have to take her place, but he was ready to get their plan in motion. As he got in the backseat of the car with the other two men, Fitz looked back into the cargo hold, hoping this would work.

 

*****

 

Skye and Bobbi watched as Fitz pulled away in the car. They were hiding in the trunk of one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles. Weirdly enough, none of the men had checked the cars. Bobbi glanced at Skye. They both knew what came next. It had taken them by surprise that Ward hadn’t been with the men, but it didn’t drastically change the plan, it just seemed off. They assumed he would want to check the plane before they made any kind of deal.

 

A few minutes after Fitz pulled away in the car, most of the men, about seven of them, were starting to gather back in the cargo hold. The man in charge that had left with Fitz had told them to keep searching the plane, but apparently they had opted not to follow orders. They were talking to each other and laughing. Skye noticed a few of them had guns, but not all of them. None of them looked particularly alert. Bobbi and Skye looked at each other. After a moment, Skye gave her a nod, and Bobbi held up her hand. She started to count, mouthing the number and lifting her fingers.

 

 _One…_ Skye got into a crouch. _Two…_ Skye and Bobbi both put a hand on the opening to the trunk. _Three._

 

They hurled the trunk door open and leaped out. Skye went for the first man she saw. He was leaning against the wall when she made a beeline to him. Before he could think, she slammed his head into the wall as hard as she could. He didn’t even realize what had happened and he slid to the floor.

 

Bobbi had taken out her battle staves and was fighting off two men. Skye saw another one trying to join the fight so she immediately targeted him. When he saw her coming towards him, he changed his course and met her halfway. When they collided, he went for her arm and tried to twist it behind her back. Skye kicked his leg as hard as she could and he loosened his grip. She spun around to face him again and was able to land a hard punch to his face. He stumbled back before coming at her again.

 

Skye was about to land another punch when she felt someone hit her from behind. She had been kicked in the back and landed hard on her knees. She spun around and saw another man standing there. Quickly, she swung her legs to the side and hit his feet, knocking him to the floor. The first man grabbed her by her hair and hauled her to her feet. He wasn’t much bigger than her and she grabbed his arms and swung him up over her body and slammed him to the floor, on top of the second man who had attacked her. She grabbed the first man’s head and head-butted it into the second man repeatedly until they were both out.

 

When Skye stood up, Bobbi was working on two more men. She ran over and jumped on the back of one of them, putting him into a chokehold. She held on tightly even when he started taking swings at her head. After a few moments of struggle, the breath went out of him and he went limp in her arms.

 

Bobbi had the last man by the throat with her stave. She shoved him into a wall. Skye could tell she wasn’t injured. Ward’s men weren’t much of a match for them.

 

“So,” Bobbi said. “Where’s May and where’d they take Fitz?”

 

“Scott took your man to her for the exchange!” the guy got out.

 

Bobbi punched him. “You wanna try that again?” she asked.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” the man said, but he looked panicked.

 

Skye grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head into the wall, not as hard as she could, but enough to hurt like hell.

 

“Listen, asshole,” Skye said. “We’re not stupid. Ward’s not going to give up May. _Now tell us where she is_.”

 

The man was breathing hard as he quickly looked back and forth between them. He looked terrified. “The utilidor!” he cried out. “It’s on the outside of town. It’s abandoned. Perfect place to keep her.”

 

“That’s where Ward is?” Bobbi asked.

 

“Yes,” he said. “He hardly leaves her. He was doing stuff to her…”

 

Skye felt a rush of fury at his words and punched the man in the nose. He cried out as blood started to gush out.

 

“Ow! I was telling the truth!” he yelled.

 

“Doesn’t make you any less of a piece of shit,” Skye said. “So Ward is there. Is that where they took Fitz?”

 

“I don’t know,” he said. Bobbi raised her fist like she was going to punch him again. “No! I swear! I don’t know where they took him! Please, don’t!”

 

Bobbi and Skye glanced at each other. “I believe you,” Bobbi said and she slammed his head into the wall again, this time knocking him out.

 

“Well, good thing we’ve got a tracker on Fitz,” Bobbi said.

 

Skye took out her phone and pulled up the trace. She examined it for a moment. “He’s not going to the utilidor,” she said. She showed the phone to Bobbi. “See, you can see the utilidor way over here,” she pointed it out. “But they’re taking him in the opposite direction.”

 

“What do you want to do?” Bobbi asked.

 

Skye thought for a moment. She couldn’t stand the idea of Fitz being stuck with those goons for very long. “I’ll follow them,” she said. “Call Coulson and tell him you know where May and Ward are. He’ll send agents over right away.”

 

“I still think we should have told Fitz about that part,” Bobbi said.

 

“He never would have agreed,” Skye said right away. “He was too worried.” Skye glanced around at the unconscious bodies surrounding them. “What should we do with all of them?”

 

Bobbi looked around. “I’ll push them out on the grass and close the cargo hold. Don’t want them taking the plane.”

 

Skye stepped back towards one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles. “Okay, well, good luck with Ward. Get May back safely,” she said.

 

“I will,” Bobbi said. “And you get Fitz back safely.”

 

Skye smiled at her and got in the car.

 

*****

 

Coulson wasn’t happy. Bobbi knew she was going to get an earful about not telling him about this later. But for now, she was happy to have him send reinforcements. She knew Fitz was worried about telling Coulson about everything, but she knew it was the right move; even if she didn’t tell him until they knew where May was.

 

Bobbi was driving out to the utilidor. It was on the outskirts of town, pretty far from where they had landed the plane. There was a team not too far from Lawton. Coulson had brought so many agents to Texas to look for May, it seemed they were in just about every city. With any luck, they would show up there not too long after she arrived. It was a long drive anyway.

 

Their hope had been that Fitz might be taken to the same place May was being kept, and that was they could handle everything in one place, that had been the ideal plan. To surprise Ward with a team and get May and Fitz back. But that hadn’t happened as they had hoped. It seemed Ward wanted to get Fitz out of town and told his men to take him away. She was at least happy that she was going to be the one to handle Ward and get May back.

 

Part of her was hoping she would get to kill Ward. Ever since the bomb at the motel, she had felt so much rage towards him, which was odd considering they had never even met. He had almost killed her team, almost killed Hunter. When she first saw Hunter on the ground after the explosion, she thought he was dead. She got the feeling that if she saw Ward in person, she would jump right into a fight with him, and wouldn’t stop until one of them was dead.

 

It worried her that she had separated from Skye. She didn’t know where they were taking Fitz, but at least she had her on the comms.

 

She put her finger up to her ear. “Skye, are you there?”

 

“Yeah, did something happen?” Skye’s voice filled her ear.

 

Bobbi let out a breath. “No, just checking in. You caught up to them yet?”

 

“No, not yet. But I’m hot on their tail,” she said.

 

“Okay. I’ll contact you the second anything happens,” Bobbi said.

 

“Got it,” Skye replied.

 

Bobbi took a breath. Skye was safe and a team was on its way.

 

She soon arrived at the utilidor. She didn’t park too close to it; rather she parked far enough away so anyone in the building couldn’t see the headlights approaching. She scanned the area around her to see if the S.H.I.E.L.D. team had somehow arrived before her. When she didn’t see anyone, she got out of the car and began to approach the building. She cut through the tall grass so no on could see her. It was a big building, and she could tell it was abandoned. It looked like no one had been in there for years. The lights were all out so she could barely see.

 

When she got close enough, she was surprised to see that there wasn’t a guard at the door. She glanced around and there weren’t any guards on the outside. She assumed any men that were there were inside with Ward or guarding May. Her gun was tucked into her holster and she took it out as she went up to the door. She didn’t see anyone in any of the windows, but the lights were out, so it was hard to tell.

 

The door was made of steel. She turned the handle and it was unlocked. She raised her eyebrows. This was starting to get weird. Maybe the man on the plane had been lying to them, and May wasn’t here at all. The door was heavy as she pushed it open. When she got through, she pointed her gun down the hall. There were pipes running along the walls, rusted pipes that hadn’t been used for years. She made her way down the hallway, keeping her gun up and ready to fire. She kept on expecting someone to jump out at her but it didn’t happen. The building was huge; she was wondering how long it would take to search the whole thing. People could be hiding anywhere.

 

She turned a corner and finally saw somebody. It was a big man, standing in front of a door. He was dressed in all black and looked fit. She knew he wasn’t standing in front of that door for no reason. Either May or someone else was in there. She wondered if Ward was in there with May, doing things to her like the man on the plane had told her he had been doing.

 

There wasn’t really a sneak attack option. He was at the end of a long hallway with nothing to hide behind. So Bobbi opted for something else. She stepped out from the corner and began to stroll down the hallway casually, as if she belonged there.

 

“Hey!” the man called out and turned to face her. “What are you doing here?”

 

“My turn for guard duty,” Bobbi said as she got closer.

 

“What?” the man said. He looked confused. _Not very smart, I see._ “Ward didn’t say nothin’ about another guard…”

 

Bobbi was only a few feet away from him. “Oh, well he must have mentioned—” when she reached him she immediately took out one of her staves and hit him over the head with it, knocking him out cold with one hit. He fell to the ground with a thud.

 

She let out a breath and turned to face the door. She knew Ward had to be in there, and she was ready for a fight. May had told her about Ward’s skill, how it had been difficult for even May to beat him. Hopefully if she could get to May, then she could help in the fight too. She knew that together, they could take him down.

 

_I’ve trained with Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. I can handle one Hydra scumbag._

 

Bobbi threw the door open and put her fists up.

 

Surprisingly, there was no immediate fight like she had expected. She looked in the room and Ward wasn’t there. She put her fists down and noticed someone tied to a chair in the middle of the room. _May_.

 

She ran over to the chair and it was indeed May, who looked up at her and an expression of shock came over her face. Bobbi noticed the bruises and cuts all over her face and body. Clearly Ward had done a number on her.

 

“May!” Bobbi said. She was ecstatic to see her again. She immediately went to work cutting the rope that was tying her hands. “Thank god you’re okay.”

 

“How did you find me?” May asked. Her voice sounded weak.

 

“Long story, but a team will be here right away,” Bobbi said. “Where’s Ward?”

 

May looked at her. “Ward?”

 

“Yeah, is he not here?” Bobbi asked, suddenly worried. She had May’s hands free and started cutting the rope around her legs.

 

“I haven’t seen him for hours,” May said. “He got a call from Fitz and left.”

 

“Then where—”

 

“Do you think you’re going somewhere, ladies?” came a voice from behind them.

 

Bobbi whirled around. There was a man at the door, and a few more men were gathering behind him.

 

May yanked her legs free of their restraints and stood up to face the door. None of them were Ward, but there were a lot of them.

 

“Got you,” the man said.

 

*****

 

The two men had taken Fitz to some abandoned building in the town. It looked like it used to be a factory or something. _It’s always an abandoned building._ Skye had been parked outside of it for a few minutes, a good distance away, but she knew Fitz was in there based on the tracker. She imagined they took him here, pretending they had May, and then tied him up and revealed he wasn’t going anywhere. There were only two of them, and Skye knew she could take them on pretty easily. She remembered her training with May.

 

She got out of the car with her gun in hand and walked towards the doors. The lights were out in the building, but she couldn’t risk bringing a flashlight and alerting the men to her location. When she went through the doors, she was overwhelmed by the smell of metal. It was so strong it was like she could taste it in her mouth. She assumed whatever used to be made in this factory; it had something to do with metal. The first floor was pretty open, and she could tell no one was there.

 

As she went up the stairs, she tried to move as quietly as possible. May had taught her a few of her tricks on moving silently. It had a lot to do with being light on your feet and being aware of everything your body was doing. She didn’t make much noise as she made her way up the stairs. She kept her gun pointed out in front of her as she reached the top, ready for any attackers.

 

It was when she reached the top when she saw a light down the hall. She made her way towards it, listening for any voices, but she heard none. She had her back against the wall next to the entrance of the room. The light was shining out as she glanced through the entrance. It was a big room lined with tables. Fitz was there. Skye breathed in sharply when she saw him. He was tied to a chair and had tape over his mouth. Skye scanned the rest of the room and, to her surprise, saw that it was empty. She entered the room, gun still in hand, and made her way over to Fitz.

 

When Fitz saw her, he immediately started crying out and shaking his head.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s me,” Skye said. She wasn’t sure what he was trying to say as she got closer.

 

Fitz continued to yell against the tape over his mouth. He was rocking back and forth in his chair and looked panicked. When Skye reached him, he was still shaking his head. She started to reach for the duck tape.

 

“That’s close enough,” came a voice from behind her.

 

Skye immediately stiffened, recognizing the voice right away. She still had her gun in hand as she turned around quickly, pointing it in the direction she heard the voice coming from.

 

Ward was standing there at the entrance, pointing a gun at her. Skye felt a wave of emotions. This was the first time she had seen him since he escaped. Since he walked through the halls of the base to leave, and tried to speak to her before Simmons threatened his life. Since then, she had only spoken to him on the phone or watched him on the street cameras. Seeing him in person was much more difficult. Seeing the man who had killed and hurt so many people she loved. She noticed her hand shaking a little as she held her gun. She wanted to pull the trigger so bad and end this. He had caused enough pain.

 

“I’m not pointing my gun at you, Skye,” Ward said. “I’d never do that. I’m pointing my gun at him.” He gestured to Fitz. “Please believe me when I say, if you shoot me, the last thing I’ll ever do is kill him.” He took a few steps closer. “Put it down, Skye.”

 

Skye was breathing heavily. She glanced at Fitz, who was looking up at her. Slowly, he shook his head. Silently telling her not to put her gun down. She saw the desperation in his eyes.

 

Her heart dropped in her chest. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk it. After a moment of hesitation, she put down her gun.

 

“Drop it to the floor,” Ward instructed and Skye did so. “Kick it over to me.” Skye followed his orders.

 

Ward reached down to pick up her gun and pressed the magazine release to take the gun apart. He tossed the gun and the magazine aside and pointed his gun at Fitz again.

 

“You said—” Skye started.

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Ward said. “All I said was if you shoot me, I’ll kill him. I didn’t say I wouldn’t if you gave me your gun.” Ward gestured to the other side of the room. “Now go stand over there and take out your comm.”

 

Skye made her way to the spot he had instructed her to go to and took out her comm from her ear. She lifted it up to show him and put it on the table. Ward nodded and walked over to Fitz, putting his gun in the back of his pants. When he reached him, he put a hand on his shoulder and Fitz glared up at him.

 

“I knew he’d tell you,” Ward said. “This guy couldn’t have pulled this off on his own, so he’d ask for help. My hope was it would be just you, but I knew there was a pretty good chance you’d bring reinforcements. So when you brought the blonde, it didn’t affect the plan too much. My men already had a plan A and plan B. If it was more than just you, which it was, then they’d feed you the lines I told them.”

 

Skye’s mouth was hanging open. They had been counting on Ward not knowing they were coming.

 

“It was obvious you’d come after Fitz,” Ward continued. “I mean, now that you two are so close.” He was squeezing Fitz’s shoulder. “As for the blonde…well, I do wonder how she’s handling her current situation.”

 

Skye gasped at his words, wondering what could be happening to Bobbi and praying that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team had arrived. Then Ward crouched down and started untying the rope at Fitz’s hands. Only his hands were tied to the chair, so he was done quickly. He pulled Fitz to his feet and held him by the collar as he ripped the duck tape off his mouth. Fitz’s cried out as he did it.

 

“K-kill me,” Fitz said to him frantically. “Kill me, but don’t touch her. Let her go.”

 

Ward made a tsking sound. “I’m not really sure why you think I want to negotiate with you, Fitz,” he said. “Besides, I thought we were friends. But then you had to go and fuck Skye.”

 

Skye flinched and Ward looked at her. She knew he had figured out they were together, but hearing him talk about it was scary. She thought of Miles and what Ward had done to him.

 

“I mean, really, Skye?” Ward had a smile on his face and was beginning to laugh, a cruel, harsh laugh. “You’ll fuck this sorry excuse for a man? I thought you had some standards, but to screw around with slow little half wit—”

 

“ _Don’t call him that!_ ” Skye cried out. “You did that to him! Don’t you ever call him that!” She was furious at everything he was saying. “He’s ten times the man you could _ever be_ ,” she spat at him with as much venom as she could muster.

 

Ward’s smile was gone. Fitz looked at her with terror in his eyes, not for himself, but for her. Ward still had him by the collar.

 

“Huh,” Ward said. “So that’s what you think.” He looked at Fitz. “You know, three’s a crowd.”

 

Before Skye could process what was happening, Ward had grabbed Fitz by the back of the neck and shoved his head hard into the wall. He dropped to the floor and didn’t move.

 

“FITZ!” Skye screamed. Without thinking, she ran over to him and fell to her knees. She took his face in her hands, but the second she went to look for a pulse, Ward’s hand was fisted in the back of her jacket and he was hauling her to her feet. He shoved her away from Fitz.

 

Skye looked at him. His grin was back and he looked terrifying. Part of her was scared, but most of her was angry. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to beat the holy hell out of him. She put her fists up and got in a fighting stance. Ward took the gun out from the back of his pants and tossed it to the side. He put his fists up, mirroring her.

 

“Come on, baby,” Ward said to her. Her fists tightened. “Show me what you’ve learned.”

 

Skye charged forward. She knew it would be obvious, but she couldn’t help but go for a punch to his face first. He easily blocked it and swung his fist around to hit her in the ribs. She stumbled backwards but went right back in, this time using her legs. She swung her leg out to kick him in the stomach, but he moved back just in time and as she spun around he took hold of her arm. When he pulled her towards him, she managed to elbow him in the face hard, finally landing a blow. His grip on her loosened and she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Just as she went to kick his leg and bring him to his knees, he spun around and punched her in the stomach.

 

The wind was knocked out of her as she went backwards. As she struggled to get her breathing back she looked up at him and he was smiling. She wanted to punch it off his face. Ward had her beat in size and experience and he knew it.

 

“Is that it, baby? I know you’ve got more than that,” he said. Skye cringed again at the word. “Don’t make this easy for me.”

 

A soft explosion went off in Skye’s head and she felt more furious than ever. She sprinted at him again, and did something that she hadn’t done before in a real fight, only in training with May. Ward wasn’t expecting it. She leaped at him and wrapped her thighs around his neck. She was able to flip him to the ground and she heard him grunt in surprise. She had managed not to fall when she flipped him over. He immediately jumped up to his feet again. She had expected that and was ready. She threw her leg out again and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and she followed, landing another blow to his face.

 

The next punch she threw at him he managed to block and he threw his head forward and slammed his forehead into her nose. She was briefly reminded of when she did the same thing to him when she found out he was Hydra. It felt like a lifetime ago. She felt blood trickle down from her nose. His blow deterred her long enough for him to land another hit to her face and she tasted blood. She was sent reeling backwards and suddenly felt her back hit a wall.

 

Just as she was about to charge forward again, Ward was there, crowding her space. She struggled against him but he held her arms against the wall, she heard him laugh as he used the rest of his body to hold her still. It was then that Skye was reminded of just how much bigger than her Ward was. He was almost a head taller, and he was broad and muscled. Skye had once found that attractive, but now it was terrifying.

 

“There,” he said. “I knew there was more in you.”

 

After a moment of staring at her, Skye suddenly felt his hands go down to her legs and he lifted them up so her feet weren’t touching the floor and he was standing in between her thighs. He lifted her so her face was right in front of his. Skye was confused about what he was doing before she felt him pressing himself against her and saw the grin on his face. Then she understood. She felt a sick drop in her stomach as she realized what he wanted.

 

Ward leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers hard. She wanted to puke as his lips moved on hers, trying to make her open her mouth. He tasted like blood and metal. But he had let go of her hands. She brought them up to his face and started clawing at him, trying to shove him off of her. When there was space between their faces again, she elbowed him hard in the mouth. He cried out and faltered, dropping her to the floor again. Skye immediately took advantage and kicked him in the face. She saw blood dripping down his lips. His hand went to his face and she leaped up to kick him in the chest, sending him flying backwards into a table. He hit his head on the table before he hit the ground and went still.

 

Skye was breathing heavily, starting to feel the pain from the fight. The adrenaline had been carrying her through until that moment. She turned her attention back to Fitz, who was still on the floor on the other side of the room and hadn’t moved. Skye ran to him.

 

When she reached him she bent down to put her ear to Fitz’s mouth and nose to check his breathing. She listened for a moment, but couldn’t hear anything.

 

 _No_.

 

He wasn’t breathing. Skye opened his mouth and was about to perform CPR when she felt a hand in her hair, pulling her up. She cried out in pain as she was forced to her feet. Ward turned her around to face him, and then grabbed her arms and swung her around like a baseball bat. He let her go and she went flying into the wall. She hit the floor hard and groaned in pain.

 

She heard Ward’s footsteps approaching. When she looked up, he was almost on her. Quickly, she swung her legs to the side and knocked his feet out from under him. He fell to the floor with a grunt. She took advantage of it and climbed on top of him. She started punching him in the face as hard as she could. She pulled on his shirt to bring him closer and head-butted him in the nose like he had done to her earlier. Fitz was lying there on the floor, not breathing, because of him. She let out all her rage on his face. Her hands were bloodied from hitting so hard.

 

When she started to slow down, Ward blocked one of her hits and took hold of her arms. He swung her to the side so she was on her back and he was on her. She struggled beneath him as he tried to hold her hands down. His size was working to his advantage.

 

When he was holding her arms against the floor, he looked down at her. She could see the damage she had caused to his face. He was red and bloodied. There were scratches on his face from when she clawed him. She tried to squirm out from under him.

 

“Oh, keep doing that,” Ward said with a grin. “It feels great.”

 

Skye spat at him, hitting him directly in the eye. His eye shut and he let go of one of her hands to bring it up to his face. The second he did, she hit him back handed across his cheek. He let go of her other arm and she was able to crawl out from under him.

 

She crawled towards Fitz. She didn’t know why, maybe for one last moment of comfort before what she knew was about to happen.

 

Ward’s hand was around her ankle and he pulled her back to him. She cried out and reached for Fitz. She was on her stomach and Ward held her down. He ripped her jacket off from behind and threw it to the side. She heard him take his jacket off as well. She was starting to hyperventilate, not prepared for what was about to happen.

 

He roughly turned her around and settled himself on top of her again. There was a horrible gleam in his eyes as he looked down at her. Skye’s energy was almost gone, but she threw her hands up again, trying to grab his throat. He immediately stopped her advances and held her hands down.

 

He brought his face close to hers. “You need to stop fighting now.”

 

There were tears in Skye’s eyes. “Ward…Ward, please don’t…”

 

He ignored her as he turned his focus to her shirt. He ripped it open, scattering the buttons everywhere. He put his hands back on her wrists and his mouth went to her neck. She felt him kissing and biting her.

 

Skye could feel all of the fight she had left in her leave her body. Suddenly, it seemed like time had slowed down, as if all of this was happening in a dream. She could see and feel everything that was happening, but it was like she was watching it happen to her from somewhere else. Her body started to go limp. She was no longer fighting his hands at her wrists. Ward felt it when she stopped struggling and removed his hands from her wrists so he could touch her in other places.

 

As this was happening, Skye tried to go to another place. She remembered the night with Fitz in the motel, how he had kissed her gently at first, only continuing when she had given him the go ahead. He had kissed her on her neck and chest, surprising her and making her laugh with cute comments. He kept on asking her if she was sure, if she really wanted it with him. She had eagerly told him yes. It was only when he was sure she was ready that he continued. She held on to that memory, of the look in Fitz’s eyes and how gently he touched her and how he had called her beautiful…

 

She remembered all of this as Ward turned his attention to her belt. Skye looked to the side. She could see Fitz lying there on the floor a few feet away. His eyes were still closed. Whether he was dead or just unconscious, she didn’t know. Slowly, she reached her hand towards him, wanting to touch him, wanting him to wake up and show her that he was going to be okay. She could almost reach him. But when Ward saw what she was doing, he grabbed her hand and pulled it back. She almost sobbed as he did, as he took away the only comfort she had left.

 

Ward made her look at him as it happened. Forced her to look in his eyes even when she cried out in pain. He didn’t say anything, just continued his assault. After a moment, he put his face in her neck and Skye stared at the ceiling. All she could hear was silence. Silence, and the sound of his heavy breathing. She stared at the ceiling, stared until she would swear she could see a pattern in the minuscule cracks, until she couldn't feel his violation. She didn't know how long she laid there in silence, staring at the ceiling. It could have been a few seconds or a few hours. All she knew was the ceiling and his heavy breathing.

 

When it was finally over, he pulled himself off of her, buckled his pants and looked around. She stared up at him, waiting for his next move, wondering if she could possibly try and defend herself if he wanted to kill her. Then, after a moment, he stepped away from her, and walked out of the room. Skye lay on the floor, listening, as she heard him go down the stairs and out the door. She heard the door close and she lay there in disbelief. She had expected him to either kill her or take her with him. Just leaving was the last thing she expected him to do.

 

Skye couldn’t get up. She stayed on the floor, and thought of the events of the last hour. Before she knew it, there were tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked to the side and saw Fitz, and all she could hear was her soft sobs.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, some serious shit went down. Poor Skye. Hopefully I wrote that well enough. Didn't want to overdo it. Let me know what you think. More soon!


	19. Aftershock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, let's get right to it. You find out the fate of some characters here.

Bobbi cried out as she was hurled into a wall. She felt the wind get knocked out of her when she fell to the floor. As she cringed in pain, she looked up and saw two men approaching her. One of them was the big guy who had just thrown her into the wall. She got back on her feet and hurled herself at him. He was strong, but not as fast as her. She hit him in the face with her battle staves and kicked him in the stomach. When he fell, the other man wrapped his arms around her neck from behind. After trying to pull him off, she opted to throw him over her shoulders instead. He hit the floor with a thud, and she kicked him in the face. He was out.

 

She turned to see more men coming towards her. They had been waiting for her to come and get May. This was a trap. She and May were fighting them off as well as they could, but they were outnumbered and May wasn’t in her best condition. Bobbi saw May on the other side of the room. She had her legs around some guy’s neck and was spinning around until it snapped. Even in her condition, she was still a better fighter than most. Bobbi wasn’t sure how they were going to make it out if this when there were only two of them. She had already used all of the bullets in her gun early on. The fight was starting to wear on her; she could tell she was slowing down.

 

There were four men coming up to her, four big men. Instead of waiting, she charged at them with her battle staves in front of her, wanting to take out as many as she could before she was killed. She went for the man closest to her, taking his head and slamming it into the wall. As she was about to do it a second time, there was a hand in her hair, pulling her backwards. She turned around to face her attacker and laid into his face as hard as she could with her staves. Another man came up to her and knocked one of her staves out of her hand. Bobbi faced him and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. She took his wrist and snapped it. She heard him cry out in pain before someone kicked her in the leg and brought her to her knees. She yelled as she fell and immediately tried to get back up, but she felt a foot push down into the back of her knee, holding her still.

 

Bobbi looked up to see three men looking down on her. She could still hear May fighting from across the room. One of the men took his gun out and pointed it at her face. She gasped softly and stared up at them.

 

“Do we have to kill her?” one of them said. “I kind of like her. Why don’t we keep her around?”

 

“The boss said we kill anyone who shows up here,” the one holding the gun said. “We’ve got orders.”

 

“Fuck his orders and fuck him,” the other man replied. “Come on, you’re telling me you don’t want her?”

 

Bobbi felt bile coming up her throat.

 

“It doesn’t matter what I—”

 

Bobbi reached up and swatted the gun out of his hand while he wasn’t looking at her. Once she had it, she shot the man who had been holding it in the face. When he went down, the others started to scramble. She immediately targeted the one who had been suggesting they “keep” her. He had backed up into a wall and looked terrified. Bobbi shot him in the chest and he collapsed.

 

Just as Bobbi turned her attention to helping May, she heard shots ring out. Not the sound of real guns, but of Icers, she knew the sound right away. She looked to the door and saw Trip and Coulson standing there with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents behind them, shooting everyone in the room with Icers. Bobbi let out a breath in relief, knowing that she wasn’t going to die today. She watched as all the men who were running fell as the bullets hit them. One by one, they all dropped to the floor.

 

When they were all down, Bobbi saw Coulson race over to May, who was leaning against the wall, trying to hold herself up. She had just been through torture and then a fight for her life. She wasn’t in good shape. Coulson put his arm around her and she leaned into him. They began walking out of the room. She saw other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents looking over the bodies.

 

“Hey, are you okay?” Bobbi heard a voice ask. She turned and it was Trip. She hadn’t even noticed him approach her.

 

“Yeah, I’ll live,” she said. “Thanks for the rescue.”

 

“We came the second you called,” he said. He started to look over her. “You’re standing okay. Doesn’t look like anything’s broken.”

 

“Don’t worry about me,” Bobbi said. “It’s May we should be concerned about.”

 

Trip nodded. “Was Ward here?”

 

Bobbi froze. In all the commotion, she had almost forgotten Ward. He had set that trap for them, and went off on his own. She thought of Skye.

 

She put a finger to her ear to use the comms. “Skye? Skye do you hear me?” she said into the comm. There was no answer. “ _Skye_? Come on. Answer me!” Still only silence. Bobbi looked at Trip, and his eyes were wide with fear.

 

“Where did she go?” Trip asked.

 

“She went after Fitz…” Bobbi said. “We need to find her.”

 

Bobbi walked past Trip and out the door. Trip followed her out. Coulson had already taken May outside. There were a number of agents out there. She saw the quinjet and a helicopter in the field. Coulson had really brought in the artillery. May was sitting in a S.H.I.E.L.D. van and Simmons along with another doctor were looking over her. Coulson was looking at them worriedly. Bobbi approached the van.

 

“Sir, I’ve lost contact with Skye,” she said to Coulson. “I think something might have happened.”

 

Coulson’s mouth fell open. “You told me earlier that she went after Fitz?”

 

“Yes,” Bobbi said. “We had a tracker on him.”

 

“Well, if you had a tracker on him, then we should be able to pick it up,” Coulson said. He looked to Simmons. “Simmons, you can find the trace, can’t you?”

 

Simmons hesitated. “Computers aren’t my specialty the way they are for Skye and Fitz, but I should be able to find it.”

 

“Please hurry,” Bobbi said.

 

*****

 

Skye managed to crawl her way to Fitz’s body. Ward had left only a minute ago, and she knew she couldn’t waste any time. She bent down to check his breathing again, and still couldn’t hear anything. She opened his mouth and started blowing air in. Simmons had taught her CPR a long time ago. _S.H.I.E.L.D. agents should all have a basic understanding of it_ she had told her. But she still was no doctor, and as she pressed her hands down on his heart, she couldn’t tell if she was doing anything to help.

 

She did her best to put the events of the last hour out of her head and focus on Fitz. His face was blank and his eyes were closed. Skye almost sobbed as she thought of losing him. There had been so much death around her lately, and she didn’t know if she could take it if she lost Fitz too. He had come to mean too much to her. That’s why Ward did it. That’s why he wanted to kill him. Because she cared about him.

 

_Because I love him._

 

She had just bent her head down to blow more air into his mouth when she heard the door open downstairs, like someone had kicked it down. For a moment, she was terrified, thinking Ward had come back for her. But just as soon as it was kicked down, she heard a familiar voice.

 

“SKYE!” Coulson’s voice called. “FITZ!”

 

Skye felt a wave of relief wash over her as she sat up. “We’re up here!” she called as loudly as she could. Her voice sounded weak in her own ears.

 

Right away she heard pounding on the steps, and she could tell there was more than one person. Moments later, Coulson’s was in the doorway with Trip and Simmons standing next to him.

 

“Fitz is hurt!” Skye yelled. “His head…he hit the wall. He’s not breathing!”

 

Simmons rushed over and fell to her knees next to Fitz. She put her ear over his mouth and when she heard that he wasn’t breathing, immediately continued the CPR.

 

“Trip!” Simmons called. “I need an AED and I need it _now_!”

 

Trip rushed out of the room and downstairs.

 

Skye could see the panic all over Simmons, in her face and her voice as she pressed down on Fitz’s chest. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Fitz was her best friend, he meant everything to her. Skye remembered what Fitz had done to save Simmons’s life, how he had sacrificed himself for her and he had been hurt. It was like all of that was coming back again. Skye knew there was nothing she could do but let Simmons work, so she stood up and took a few steps away.

 

Coulson approached her. He wasn’t looking at Fitz, and he didn’t look relieved to see her, or scared or anything. Slowly, his eyes dropped to look her over. He was noticing her neck, shirt, and pants. Skye looked down at herself. She noticed that her neck had bruises on it, like bite marks. She shuddered at the memory of Ward’s lips at her neck. Her shirt was still ripped open and her belt was undone. She had been in such a rush to get to Fitz that she had forgotten what she looked like.

 

Her eyes met Coulson’s, and she saw that he knew. She felt tears well up in her eyes and she pulled her shirt closed to cover herself.

 

In that moment, Trip came sprinting back in the room with the AED. He put it down next to Simmons and they began to unbutton Fitz’s shirt. Skye looked away, not able to look at Fitz’s face any longer.

 

“We should get you out of here,” Coulson said to her.

 

Skye nodded and let him put a hand on her shoulder. He led her out of the room.

 

As they were walking down the stairs, Skye heard Simmons’s voice from behind her. “Get ready to clear!” she was saying. Skye and Coulson had reached the bottom of the stairs. “Charging…and clear!” Simmons yelled as they walked out the door. Someone else ran past them, presumably to help Simmons and Trip.

 

There was a helicopter and two S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles outside along with a number of agents. Skye remembered then that Bobbi called Coulson when they found out where May was, and he must have brought everyone he could.

 

As Coulson sat her down in one of the vans, she asked him, “Are May and Bobbi okay?”

 

Coulson was still staring at her, but she could tell he was trying not to. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “They’re fine. I sent them to the Bus.”

 

Skye nodded. She was happy to know they were okay, especially after what Ward had said to her.

 

Coulson looked like he was having trouble breathing. He kept looking at her and looking away. After a moment, Skye noticed there were tears in his eyes. He put a hand over his face, like he was trying not to cry.

 

“I should…you should go back to the Bus,” he said. “It’s safe there.” He looked to one of the agents standing in front of the building. “Hey! Come over here, I need you to do something.” The agent started approaching them.

 

Skye realized he was going to ask the agent to take her back to the Bus. Coulson had his back turned to her and she took his hand. Slowly, he turned around to look at her. She was staring up at him, her eyes glistening with tears.

 

“Coulson…please don’t leave me,” she said in a small voice.

 

For the first time since she had known him, Skye saw a tear drop from Coulson’s eye. She had never seen him cry before. The closest she had ever seen him come to crying was after S.H.I.E.L.D. had fallen and they were all trying to find Providence, and he had broken down to them in the snow. Though he hadn’t cried. But now there was a tear rolling down his cheek as he looked at her. She felt him give her hand a small squeeze.

 

The agent had reached them. “What are your orders, Director?” he asked.

 

Coulson turned to look at him. “I’m taking Agent Skye back to the Bus. You are to do whatever Agent Simmons orders. Am I clear?”

 

“Yes, sir,” the agent said. He turned to walk back over to the building.

 

Coulson turned back to Skye and she looked at him gratefully. She didn’t want to be alone with someone she didn’t know. She wanted to be with people she trusted.

 

“Okay, let’s go,” Coulson said.

 

Skye crawled into the backseat of the van and closed the door. Coulson got in the front seat and turned on the ignition. They started driving off. As they passed by the building, Skye stared at it, remembering what had happened to her in there, and wondering if Fitz would be okay.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm keeping Fitz's fate a secret for now. Gotta wait and see. I did want Coulson to be the first one to see what happened to Skye though. It seemed appropriate. More soon.


	20. Realizations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay you get some more answers here, I promise :)

Bobbi almost sprinted into the cargo hold when she heard a car pull in. Coulson had called her and told her he was heading back with Skye. That was all he said. Nothing about Fitz or what even happened to the two of them. A couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors had looked her over, but she was anxious the whole time, needing to know what went down. When they arrived at the Bus, they found the men she and Skye had fought earlier and put them in handcuffs. They were still passed out, so they shot them with some Icers and tossed them into the interrogation room. She presumed they would question them later. May had been brought into one of the bunks and they were treating her there. She was exhausted and in pain after her ordeal.

 

When Bobbi reached the cargo hold, she saw Coulson helping Skye out of the car. He had taken off his jacket and was putting it around her shoulders. Bobbi let out a breath. It was a relief to see her in one piece. She took a few steps forward, meaning to hug Skye, when Coulson shot her a look. She stopped in her tracks. He had his arm around Skye as they stepped forward. They entered what used to be Fitzsimmons’s lab and Coulson sat Skye down on the table. She pulled his jacket tighter around herself.

 

Bobbi stared. Coulson had his hands on Skye’s shoulders and she had never seen that look on his face before. His mouth was trembling and his eyes were wide. He looked angry, sad, and confused all at once. Bobbi approached them, trying to understand what was happening. Her eyes trailed over to Skye. Obviously, she had been in a fight. Her lip was cut, there was dried blood running down her nose, and there were a few bruises forming on her face. She saw that her hair was a mess. Bobbi’s eyes wandered to her neck, there were bruises there too, but they were smaller. They didn’t look like they came from punches, they almost looked like bite marks. Bobbi furrowed her eyebrows, and then she looked further down. Skye had let Coulson’s jacket open a little bit so Bobbi could see inside. That was when she realized that Skye’s shirt was open. She breathed in sharply and looked at Skye’s pants, they looked wrinkled.

 

_Oh…oh no._

 

Bobbi’s eyes widened and she took a few steps backwards. She knew what happened. Her hair, the marks on her neck, the shirt, and her pants, it all led to the same conclusion.

 

Bobbi felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She was with Skye. She had let her go off alone. She had lost contact with her. What happened to Skye was on her. If she had just gone with her, or never gone through with her stupid plan in the first place, this never would have happened. She fed right into Ward’s hands, and he got what he wanted. Her heart dropped at the thought of what Skye must have felt when she realized she was alone with Ward.

 

Coulson looked at her, and Bobbi knew her thoughts were all over her face. Skye looked way. Bobbi wanted nothing more than to go up to her and apologize, but she couldn’t bring herself to approach her.

 

“Agent Morse,” Coulson said with authority. Bobbi straightened up, trying to be the agent she was supposed to be. “I need you to get the plane in the air. We’re going back to the base.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Bobbi said. She turned headed towards the stairs. When she reached the first step, she looked back and saw Skye again. Bobbi almost sobbed at the look on her face. Skye was usually smiling and cracking jokes. Bobbi had always liked that about her. But when she looked at Skye now, all she could see was someone who was timid and scared.

 

Bobbi felt a tear fall down her cheek as she walked up the stairs.

 

*****

 

“Can I do anything for you?” Coulson asked as he heard Bobbi reach the top of the stairs. He knew his voice was shaking, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

 

Skye slowly shook her head. She was looking at the floor.

 

Coulson opened his mouth to speak again but his phone rang and interrupted him. He looked at Skye apologetically but she didn’t meet his eyes. He took a few steps away from her, and took out his phone. It was Simmons. He knew she had to be calling about Fitz and he answered his phone.

 

“Simmons?” Coulson answered.

 

“Sir, we’ve got a pulse,” Simmons said to him. She sounded out of breath.

 

Coulson sighed in relief. He noticed the cargo hold door was closing. Bobbi was about to take off. “He’s going to be okay?”

 

Simmons hesitated. “He’s not conscious, but he is alive,” she said. “We’re transporting him to the nearest hospital.”

 

“What happened to him?” Coulson asked.

 

“His head injury caused him to stop breathing,” Simmons said. “I don’t know the extent of the trauma yet. I’ll be able to tell you as soon as we make it to the hospital.”

 

“Well, he’s not staying in a hospital for very long,” Coulson said, remembering what happened with May. “As soon as he can be moved, he’s coming back to the base.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Simmons said. “We’re boarding the helicopter now. I’ll let you know when we arrive.”

 

Coulson hung up and looked back towards Skye. She was staring at him with her eyes wide. He felt the plane starting to take off.

 

“Fitz…” she said. “He’s going to be okay?”

 

“He’s alive,” Coulson said and took a few steps towards her. “They’re taking him to a hospital.”

 

“I…I thought he…” Skye’s eyes were watering. “He stopped breathing.”

 

“His injury caused him to stop breathing,” Coulson replied. “But they were able to get a pulse. They’ll find out the extent of the trauma…and we’ll go from there.”

 

Skye stared at him for a moment before nodding. “I want to sleep,” she said.

 

“Okay, I’ll take you to your bunk,” Coulson said.

 

He helped her slide off the table. She was clearly sore and he put his arm around her. He had given her his jacket to try and hide what Ward had done from anyone else, but he knew that Bobbi knew. He saw it in her eyes. Bobbi was too smart to not have figured it out.

 

He led Skye out of the lab and up the stairs. Skye kept his jacket wrapped around herself and leaned into him. Lately, she had hardly looked for support from anyone other than Fitz. She had become very capable, and reminded him many times that she was a field agent and could handle herself. To see her so fearful and unsure, it was painful.

 

When they reached the bunk she used to sleep in when they had all lived on the Bus, he opened the door for her. She looked at him gratefully and entered, his jacket still on her shoulders. It made her look small.

 

“Thank you, Coulson,” she said and slid the door closed.

 

It took everything Coulson had not to tell Bobbi to put the plane down so he could get out and search for Ward. Every part of him wanted to kill him for what he had done. He had kidnapped and tortured May, almost had her killed, and what he did to Skye…he wanted to vomit at the very thought of it. She was so broken, and all because of Ward. He remembered the look on her face when he found her in that abandoned building. There were tears in her eyes and she had pulled her shirt closed as if she was ashamed. Coulson had almost started sobbing right then and there, but knew he couldn’t, knew Skye didn’t need that. She needed him to help her, not for him to break. But it felt like every second, he was getting closer to breaking.

 

He put his focus on May. He had spent the last two days consumed with finding her. Finding her alive was not something he expected. When they found her and Bobbi alive in the utilidor, he had never felt more relieved. All he had wanted to do was hold her. Ward had put her through hell, he saw that immediately. There were cuts and bruises all over her body. All of the nails on one of her hands were pulled off. Ward had tortured her for his own fun.

 

Coulson headed towards her bunk, assuming that’s where they had brought her. Her bunk wasn’t with the other four. When May joined the team, he made sure she wouldn’t have to sleep with the youngest and rowdiest agents, he gave her a separate room, and she had been grateful. She didn’t say it, but he knew. He walked to that room now; it was towards the front of the plane, closer to the cockpit. There was an agent standing outside the room and he nodded when Coulson approached, opening the door for him.

 

When Coulson entered, he saw another doctor sitting by the bed. May was asleep. She must have changed before lying down because she was wearing something else. The clothes he had found her in were torn up and filthy, so it only made sense.

 

He looked at the doctor. “Will she be okay?”

 

The doctor nodded. “I was worried about her head injury, but that seems to be fine,” she said. “I’ve stitched up most of her wounds. She just needs time to heal.”

 

Coulson nodded and stared at May. She looked so peaceful. He couldn’t imagine her reaction to what happened to Skye, and he wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to tell her, or if he should at all. Maybe he should let Skye decide what she wants everyone to know. But he still couldn’t imagine keeping this from May.

 

“Can I have a minute with her?” Coulson asked.

 

“Of course, Director,” the doctor said as she got out of her seat.

 

Coulson sat down in the chair the doctor had vacated as she left the room and closed the door. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, needing to remind himself that she was alive, and that he would get to talk with her again, fight with her again, and be with her again. She wasn’t gone. She was still here.

 

He took her hand and put it in his.

 

*****

 

When they landed at the base, Coulson went to Skye’s bunk to walk her off the plane, but when he arrived, she wasn’t there. The door was open and the bed was slept in, but she had left. He checked the cargo hold and saw that the door was already open. Skye must have gone into the base already. He let out a breath. It’s not like he had expected her to want to be around everyone else, but he still preferred it when he knew where she was. He walked back towards May’s room to help her out instead. Bobbi was there too and he was surprised to find May awake.

 

May gave a small smile as he approached. She was sitting up on her bed. “Hey,” she said in a weak voice. “It’s good to be back.”

 

Coulson couldn’t help but smile when he saw her. “It wasn’t the same without you.”

 

“Bobbi told me that Skye and Fitz are okay,” May said. She sounded pleased. “That’s good to hear.”

 

Coulson stiffened and glanced at Bobbi. Clearly Bobbi hadn’t told her what Skye had been through, and Coulson was grateful. He still wasn’t sure how to tell her, or if he should at all.

 

“Yeah, well, let’s worry about you right now,” Coulson said, trying to change the subject. “Let’s get you off this plane and into your room.”

 

May allowed Bobbi and Coulson to help her as they brought her to her room. They only had to stand on both sides of her and help balance her in case she wavered. She was tougher than anyone Coulson knew, but even she wasn’t immune to two days of torture.

 

They helped her into her bed in the base. When they were finished, Coulson gave Bobbi a look. She nodded with understanding.

 

“I’m gonna go check on Hunter,” Bobbi said as she took a few steps towards the door. “If you need anything, just send for me.”

 

“Thanks, Bobbi,” May said appreciatively.

 

When Bobbi shut the door, May turned her eyes on Coulson. “What’s going on?” she said in a stern voice.

 

Coulson drew in a sharp breath. “What do you mean?”

 

“You and Bobbi kept looking at each other,” May said. “Bobbi left here in a hurry, and you both seemed awkward when you helped me off the plane. Did something happen?”

 

Coulson hesitated, not knowing what to say. So much had happened, but he didn’t think it was his place to say anything.

 

“It’s Fitz,” Coulson said. “Bobbi told you that he’s not conscious?”

 

May nodded. “Ward slammed his head into a wall?”

 

“That’s what I assume happened,” Coulson said. “Skye didn’t really tell us…”

 

“So Skye was alone with Ward,” May said.

 

Coulson gave a stiff nod.

 

May stared at him for a moment and Coulson felt like she was reading everything about him. She always had a way of doing that.

 

“When I was with Ward,” she said. “He told me…the next time he was alone with Skye, he would take her.”

 

Coulson flinched and he knew May saw it.

 

“Phil,” May said. “Did Ward force himself on Skye?”

 

Coulson closed his eyes, and he knew that would give him away. It took him a few moments before he could bring himself to answer. He couldn’t lie to May.

 

“Yes,” he said.

 

After a minute of silence, Coulson opened his eyes and looked at May. She was staring at him. He couldn’t tell if she was shocked or angry or sad or anything. She just had a blank look on her face, and that scared Coulson more than anything else. May was always difficult to read, but never like this.

 

“When we find him,” she said finally, in a quiet voice. “There will be no mercy for him this time.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Fitz is alive! I entertained the idea of killing him off, but decided against it. Oooh, May is mad, and we all know what happens when May is angry. I will definitely have more of Skye in the next chapter. How she deals with what happened to her is important. I will address it a lot. More soon!


	21. Purity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took me so long. I went back and forth on it, and it was one of the hardest to write. So I hope you like it.

Skye closed the door of the bathroom behind her. For a moment, she stood there with her forehead against the door. When they first moved into the base, Coulson had given her one of the rooms that had its own bathroom, so she didn’t have to worry about anyone else needing to come in. She wanted to be alone. She needed Coulson’s comfort earlier, but not now. When the plane landed, she left the second the cargo hold door was open. She wanted to see May, but she wasn’t ready to face her yet. Seeing Bobbi was a relief, but she saw the way she was staring at her, with that shocked expression on her face. It didn’t help. She didn’t want anyone to look at her that way. Her forehead was still against the door and her whole body was aching. Part of her was scared to face her reflection in the mirror, but she couldn’t hide forever. Slowly, she stepped back and turned around.

 

The first thing she noticed was her hair. It was a mess. She had been sweating and she remembered Ward putting his hands in her hair. The bite marks were still prominent on her neck from where he had bitten her. She had bruises formed on her face, a cut on her lip, and some dried blood under her nose from the fight. She approached the sink and turned on the faucet. She reached down to cup her hands under the running water, but then she noticed her hands. They were bloody. She was confused for a moment before remembering when she had climbed on top of Ward and laid into his face. Her hands had started to bleed from hitting him so many times. She put her hands in the water to try and wash off the blood. They would need bandages. Then she began scrubbing the blood off her face.

 

When she turned off the faucet she stood up straight again and continued to look at herself. She had tossed Coulson’s jacket on her bed and taken off her shoes when she entered her room, so she was only wearing her ripped shirt and pants. After a moment of staring, she peeled her shirt off of her shoulders and tossed it to the floor. There were bruises prominent on her shoulders and stomach. Her bra hadn’t been torn. Ward had only lifted it so he could touch her, but she had pulled it back down. Skye reached her hands around her back and unhooked her bra. When she took it off she could see more bruises. These bruises stood out as fingerprints from where he had touched her breasts. She hated having his prints on her. It was like he was still touching her.

 

She turned her attention to her pants next. This was what she was most scared of. She had buttoned up her pants and buckled her belt in the car on the way to the Bus, but she was scared to take them off. Carefully, she put her hands on her belt and began to unbuckle it. Once she had her belt undone, she unzipped and unbuttoned her pants. She paused for a moment and closed her eyes, trying to take her mind somewhere else. With her eyes closed, she pulled her pants down, dropping them to the floor and stepping out of them. She opened her eyes again. Ward had torn through her underwear so they practically fell off of her with her pants. She could see dried blood dripping down her inner thighs.

 

Skye stared at herself naked in the mirror. This wasn’t the first time she had come back from a fight with bruises. She brought her hand up to her stomach and traced her finger around one of the bigger ones. It looked like it came from Ward’s foot. She cringed at the memory of him kicking her in the stomach. Her eyes dropped to her thighs. She saw that there wasn’t just blood there, but bruises to. His marks had been left all over her body.

 

Not wanting to look in the mirror anymore, Skye stepped away to open the door to her shower. She turned it on and got in right away. The water was cold. When she closed the shower door behind her she immediately reached for the soap. She started scrubbing herself hard. There was dried blood on her from the fight, along with dirt and anything else that might have gotten on her when Ward held her on the floor. Skye put soap on her neck and started scrubbing it, remembering Ward’s lips touching her. She scrubbed her breasts and her arms. She scrubbed her thighs more than anything. When she looked down, she saw blood and dirt mixed with water going down the drain. She scrubbed herself until she was red and raw. All she wanted was to wash away his touch. But no matter how much she scrubbed, she could still feel his hands on her.

 

The water had become scorching hot. She stopped her scrubbing and leaned back into the wall. She slowly slid to the floor and put her arms around her legs, holding them to her chest. The water continued to rush down over her body. She remembered the look on Coulson’s face when he found her, the look of shock and fear that came over him. Part of her wanted to be with him now, to have his comfort, but she couldn’t bear to be around anyone. She couldn’t stand to see the pity in their eyes. She had seen it in Bobbi’s eyes too on the plane.

 

Her mind drifted back to the abandoned building. Ward climbing on top of her, tearing at her clothes, forcing her to look at him when he…

 

Suddenly, Skye felt a sob come up her throat, and before she knew it, she was crying. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her tears were mixing with the shower water as it ran down her face. She thought of Fitz and cried harder. The way he tried to protect her, and how his life was put in danger yet again, how she had reached for him before Ward pulled her hand back. The tears were coming faster. Skye realized it was becoming harder to breath with her sobbing and the steam in the shower, but she didn’t care. She let herself cry, even though in the past weeks, it seemed she shouldn’t have any more tears to shed.

 

*****

 

Bobbi pulled herself out of bed. She hadn’t been severely injured from the mission, so she needed to keep up with her training. The last few days she hadn’t had the chance, with everything that happened in Texas and then the Ward mission. But now it was best to try and get back in the swing of things.

 

They had come back to the base early in the morning the day before with Skye and May. That day had been hell. After she left May and Coulson alone, she went to check on Hunter. He had given her an earful when she told him about going after Ward. He was mad that she hadn’t told him, even though she knew he would have tried to stop her. Bobbi knew he would have handcuffed himself to her to keep her from going. But she could tell he was still happy to see her safe. She told him that they got May back, and he begrudgingly admitted that it was a good thing, even though she had to put herself in so much danger for it to happen. He was very worried about Fitz, and wanted him out of the hospital right away. After that, he knew there was still something on her mind. He could always tell when she was hiding something. He probed her for a few minutes before she finally cracked. She didn’t exactly tell him about Skye, but she told him enough, that Skye had been alone with Ward…and that was really all she needed to say before Hunter’s eyes went wide with understanding and he looked like he was ready to pummel Ward to a pulp right then and there. She had wondered if he would blame her for that too, but he didn’t, he just looked sad. He wasn’t close with Skye, but he considered her a friend. He had put his head in his hands and told her to go. She could tell he needed time.

 

The rest of the day had been spent with Coulson and Mack. Skye had stayed in her room all day, and she knew better than to bother her. She couldn’t imagine what she was going through. Coulson spoke with the teams they had in Texas, who were trying to track down Ward. Of course, he had disappeared after he left Skye, and they couldn’t find any trace of him. They did have one silver lining, though. It seemed that Ward’s plan didn’t exactly work. He wanted to hold on to May, and probably kidnap Bobbi as well. Or at least for them to end up dead. They also suspected that he thought he might get a hold of the Bus too. In the end, he walked away with most of his men caught by S.H.I.E.L.D. and no new assets. So they were hoping that he’d get desperate, and in desperation, he’d get careless, careless enough for them to catch him.

 

They spoke to Simmons too. She and Trip had taken Fitz to the nearest hospital. Fitz’s frontal lobe had sustained serious trauma. He was in a coma. There wasn’t much to be done other than wait it out. Whether or not he’d wake up…that was still unclear. Simmons had not left his bedside. She and Trip were with him at all times, making sure nothing could happen. After what happened to May, they weren’t taking any chances. He was going to be brought back to the base.

 

As for Ward’s men, they brought some of them back to the base for interrogation. They turned a few over to Talbot to continue that partnership. Talbot was pissed as hell over the explosion in Texas. She got the feeling he would take good care of some of the men responsible. For the most part, the men were wanted for murder or rape, some were even child molesters. Ward must have run with them sometime during his Hydra career. Bobbi went at a few of the men in the interrogation rooms. They said Ward had contacted them two weeks ago about needing some help. He had offered them money and women. Bobbi recalled one of the men in the fight saying they wanted to “keep” her. They helped him with the bombs in the motel, and infiltrating the hospital. But none of them knew where he had gone. Ward only ever told them strictly what they needed to know, and nothing more.

 

Bobbi was heading towards the gym, contemplating if Coulson was going to ask her to take another crack at Ward’s men. Maybe one of them was hiding something. Though she had always been good at detecting a good liar. Only a few of them seemed to be above average when it came to lying, and those were a few of the men who had been posing as doctors when they took May. But Bobbi was pretty convinced that Ward would never tell any of them where he’d run to next. Ward was smart, annoyingly so. He wouldn’t be that stupid.

 

When she entered the gym, she heard someone going at the punching bag. It wasn’t unusual. The gym was open to all agents staying in the base. But when she turned the corner, she froze in shock when she saw Skye there, wailing into the punching bag. She looked like she had been there for a while because she was sweaty. Bobbi wasn’t expecting to see her. The last time she saw her was on the Bus just as she got back, and that hadn’t exactly been a good encounter. Bobbi mentally kicked herself as she remembered how she had stared as Skye with pity and Skye turned away.

 

After a moment of standing there, Skye finally turned around and saw her. Bobbi inhaled sharply, not knowing what to say or what state of mind Skye was in.

 

To her shock, Skye gave her a small smile. “Hey,” Skye said. “I was wondering if anyone would show this morning.”

 

Bobbi’s mouth was dry. She didn’t know how to respond. Part of her wanted to run up to Skye, throw her arms around her, start crying, and beg for forgiveness for ever leaving her alone to go after Fitz. But she knew that wasn’t what Skye wanted.

 

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Bobbi said, not knowing if it was the right thing to say.

 

Skye gave the bag a small punch and chuckled. “Well, I know May is out of commission, but it’s good to keep up with training.”

 

Bobbi was surprised to see Skye in a place where she could smile at all. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” she said. “Have you seen May yet?”

 

Skye shook her head. “No, but I think I’ll go see her today,” she said. “I wanted to give her some time to rest.”

 

“Yeah, I get that,” Bobbi said. “And, Fitz? You know about him?”

 

Skye stiffened at the mention of Fitz. “He’s alive.”

 

“Not just that,” Bobbi interjected. “He’s coming back to the base today. Did you hear about that?”

 

Skye smiled. “Really? I didn’t know that.”

 

“Yeah, we all want him back. He’ll be safer here,” she said. “But…he’s in a coma. We don’t know if he’ll…if he’ll wake up.”

 

Skye stared at her for a moment before giving a stiff nod. “Yeah, well, we have to have some hope, you know.” She turned her attention back to the punching bag.

 

Bobbi’s eyebrows shot up. She was surprised to hear Skye sound so nonchalant about the fact that Fitz might very well never wake up from his coma. Her behavior since she entered the gym was confusing.

 

“So…” Bobbi started. Skye turned around again to look at her. “How are you doing, you know, with all this?” she asked as gently as she could.

 

Skye shrugged and gave a small smile. “We saved May. Fitz is alive. Coulson showed up in time to save you guys. I’m doing fine.”

 

Bobbi drew here eyebrows together. Skye knew what she was asking; she just didn’t want to talk about it. She let out a breath. If Skye didn’t want to talk about it, then she had no business pestering her.

 

“Hey! Wanna spar?” Skye asked with a smile.

 

“Uh, no,” Bobbi said. “Maybe later. I’m not even warmed up yet.”

 

Later, after avoiding any more talk with Skye in the gym; Bobbi made her way to Coulson’s office. She needed to give him the head’s up on Skye. She knocked on his door and waited until she heard a small voice saying “come in” and she entered. Coulson was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. His suit was wrinkled and he needed to shave. Bobbi found herself wondering when was the last time he slept. Ever since May was taken, he had been working nonstop, and after what happened with Skye, she had a hard time imagining he was sleeping well.

 

Coulson brought his head up to look at her. “What is it, Bobbi?”

 

He didn’t usually call her Bobbi, so she was even more sure that he was tired. “Have you seen Skye this morning, sir?” she asked.

 

Coulson’s eyes widened and he straightened up. Clearly she had gotten his attention. “No. She’s out of her room?”

 

Bobbi nodded. “I saw her in the gym this morning. We talked.”

 

“How does she seem?” Coulson asked. He looked worried.

 

Bobbi hesitated. “She’s…she’s not talking about what happened. At least not with me,” she said. “Not that I blame her, but she veered away from the subject and is putting a smile on her face like there’s nothing wrong.”

 

Coulson nodded. “Did you tell her about Fitz?”

 

“Yes, sir,” she said. “I didn’t get much of a reaction. She just seemed happy he was coming back.”

 

“That’s odd,” Coulson said. “She wasn’t upset at all over him being in a coma?”

 

“She was worried,” Bobbi said. “But not as much as I expected. She just said ‘we have to have some hope.’”

 

Coulson stared at his desk. She could see the stress written all over his face. “Okay, then. Thanks for telling me,” he said. “I’ll see about talking to her later.”

 

*****

 

May tried to get comfortable in her bed. It was hard to be comfortable when you were forced to stay in the same place for over twenty-four hours. She knew she was hurt. Ward had stabbed her a few times, and she couldn’t risk any training that would open up the stitches. Her head injury was still worrying Coulson. Even though the doctors had said it was going to be fine, Coulson insisted that they keep a close eye on it. Part of her was grateful for his concern, but it was still frustrating to be cooped up in a bed. But it was better to be stuck in her room at the base than in a hospital like before.

 

Just as she began looking for another more comfortable position, she heard a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called, expecting Coulson.

 

The door opened and Skye stepped in. May was surprised to see her. Coulson had stopped by the day before to tell her Skye hadn’t come out of her room. May hadn’t seen her since the hospital. She immediately looked her over. There were bruises on her face, though they were already starting to fade. The cut on her lip was healing up as well. She had obviously been in a fight. May felt a spark of anger when she thought of Ward doing that to her.

 

“Hey,” Skye said with a small smile. She closed the door behind her and stood in front of it, looking unsure of herself.

 

“Hey,” May said. “Come over here.” She waved her over.

 

Skye took a few careful steps forward and sat in the chair next to May’s bed. Part of May wanted to throw her arms around her and promise her she would kill Ward for what he had done to her. But she gave Skye her space.

 

Skye took a breath. “I’m happy to see you again.”

 

May leaned forward, just a little bit. “Me too.”

 

Skye lifted her chin. “How are you feeling?”

 

May gave a small shrug. “I’ve had worse,” she said. “Coulson is worried about my head injury. But I keep telling him I’ll be fine.”

 

“That’s what I was worried about,” Skye said. “Your head injury. What did the doctors say about it?”

 

“It was never as serious as it could have been,” May said. “So it’ll be fine. Coulson just worries.”

 

Skye chuckled. “He usually does.”

 

May glanced at her. “Thank you, Skye,” she said. “You came to get me. I wish I could thank Fitz too.”

 

Skye shook her head and gave a smile. “There’s no need to thank me. You would have done the same for me.”

 

“I would have,” May said immediately.

 

There was silence between them for a moment. May could see pain in her eyes. Skye was smiling a little, but it didn’t look real. It didn’t reach her eyes. May felt her heart drop. Skye was always giving genuine smiles and was always the life of any room. Seeing her so distant was strange and saddening.

 

“How are you, Skye?” May asked her.

 

Skye shrugged. “I’m fine. I’ll feel better when Fitz is here and safe.”

 

“But you, you’re doing fine?” May asked. She didn’t want to probe, but she needed to know her mental state.

 

“Yeah, I’m sore from the fight, but I’m already healing,” Skye said. She looked away. “I should let you get some rest.”

 

May fell back against her pillows again. “Okay.”

 

Skye stood up and headed for the door. May watched her as she left. Skye didn’t even turn around for a last goodbye when she went out the door. May could tell she wasn’t going to talk to anyone about what happened, and she couldn’t say she blamed her. A wave of fury overtook her as she thought of Ward. She fell asleep imagining all the things she could do to him to make him pay.

 

*****

 

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Skye asked as she opened the door to Coulson’s office.

 

Coulson was standing in front of his desk; he had been waiting for her for a few minutes. He had sent Mack to ask her to come and see him. “Yes, have a seat,” he said and gestured to the chair in front of him.

 

Skye closed the door behind her and plopped down in the seat. Coulson didn’t want to be standing in front of her so he took the chair next to hers. He looked her over. There were bruises from the fight still on her face, but they were fading. She looked better than she did a few nights ago, that was for sure.

 

Coulson took a breath. “Bobbi told me you were training this morning. How did that go?” He wanted to start off easy, not sure of how he should begin this conversation.

 

Skye smiled. “It went well,” she said. “Obviously I’m kind of sore from everything, but I’ll be back to one hundred percent soon. You just gotta give me a few days.”

 

“I’m glad,” he said. “You’re one of our best.”

 

“That’s always nice to hear,” she said with a smile.

 

Coulson stared at her for a moment. He was having a hard time avoiding the subject and decided to get into it. “How are you doing?” he asked.

 

Skye chuckled. “A lot of people asking me that lately,” she said. “And like I told them, I’m fine.”

 

“That’s good,” Coulson said. “But you know me, I had to ask for myself.”

 

Skye smiled. “Of course you did,” she said. “Did you ask me to come in here just for that?”

 

“No,” he said. “I also wanted to let you know that I’m here for you when you’re ready to talk.”

 

Skye raised an eyebrow. “Okay…thanks. But that’s not necessary. I don’t need to talk about anything.”

 

Coulson sighed. “There’s no rush, and you don’t even have to talk to me. You can talk to anyone. I know it must be difficult, but you can’t keep deflecting—”

 

“Stop,” she said with clarity. “Stop acting like I’m some head case. Nothing is wrong.”

 

“You’re telling yourself that—”

 

“ _No_!” she said and stood up. “I’m not telling myself that, I’m telling _you_ that! Don’t talk to me like I’m a child.”

 

Coulson followed her lead and stood up. The last thing he wanted was to make her mad. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I’m trying to do here. But if you talked to someone…S.H.I.E.L.D. has a few doctors we can contact—”

 

“What, a _shrink_?” Skye said with disdain. “You want me to talk to a fucking shrink so they can psychoanalyze me? No way.”

 

“Skye, what Ward did to you—”

 

“I’M FINE!” Skye shouted in his face. “There’s nothing fucking wrong with me! The only thing wrong is you throwing all this in my face! I want to move on. It’s not my fucking problem if you want to dwell on this! Just forget about it!”

 

Skye shoved her way past him and went for the door. Coulson couldn’t turn around to watch her go. He only heard the door slam closed behind her. He stared forward at the gray of his office walls.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was very difficult to write Skye's response to her trauma. I hope I wrote it well enough. Pretty obvious that I went for the denial angle. She thinks nothing is wrong and just wants to forget about it. Hope you liked it. More soon, I hope.


	22. Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one has taken a while. It's becoming tougher and tougher to write these chapters. Though I promise to keep going. Hope you like the chapter.

“Mind his head,” Simmons said to Trip as she rolled Fitz’s bed out of the quinjet and into the base. She knew he wasn’t awake and couldn’t feel anything, but she didn’t want him rocking around. She had hardly let anyone else touch him since they first found him. Everyone had suddenly become suspicious to her. She watched every doctor in the hospital like a hawk, worried one of them would turn out to be working with Ward. Either she or Trip was always watching Fitz’s room. They took every precaution to make sure Fitz was safe.

 

Simmons couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time she brought Fitz back to the base when he was comatose. After he had sacrificed himself for her when they were stuck at the bottom of the ocean. It happened a long time ago, but the memory was still fresh in her mind. The look on Fitz’s face when he pressed the button, the water rushing in, her mad scramble to take the breath of air before pulling Fitz to the surface. It was still painful to think about. Now Fitz was hurt again at Ward’s hands. This was the second time he had put Fitz in this position.

 

_I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him slowly._

 

Coulson and Bobbi were waiting for them outside the quinjet. They both looked solemn, but Simmons was happy to see them. She rolled Fitz’s bed off the quinjet.

 

“Hi, can we get some help?” Simmons asked and gestured to Fitz. Trip was standing at Fitz’s head while Simmons was at the side.

 

“Of course,” Coulson said. He took a spot on the other side of the bed while Bobbi gestured for them to follow her.

 

They followed Bobbi through the halls of the base. She was clearing the path for them, telling agents to move to the side and make room. A lot of the agents looked at Fitz as they rolled him by. Simmons kept and eye out for Skye. It had surprised her that Skye wasn’t there waiting for them when they got off the quinjet. She and Fitz had become so close lately. She assumed Skye would want to see him right away.

 

Skye still wasn’t there when they arrived in the med bay, but Mac was. He was waiting for them along with a few doctors whom Simmons had worked with before. Mac straightened up when they came in, and his eyes locked on Fitz on the bed. Simmons couldn’t recall ever seeing him look so worried. He opened one of the glass doors to the room meant for Fitz and they rolled him in. They placed his bed in the correct spot and Trip and Coulson stepped aside to allow her to hook him up to the machine and adjust the equipment to the new location. Simmons didn’t like that they had to move him, but she knew it was necessary. The base was a far safer place for him to be than a hospital.

 

When she was finished, she looked down at him for a moment. She had been in this exact position over six months ago. Watching Fitz as he lay unconscious. Unsure if he would ever wake up. He looked like he could be sleeping. Slowly, she leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead. She felt tears stinging in her eyes. She pulled herself back up and stepped out of the room to join the others.

 

They weren’t talking, it seemed like they were waiting for her. They all looked at her when she joined them, expecting her to talk.

 

“I can’t tell you if he’s going to wake up,” Simmons said. “He suffered severe trauma to his frontal lobe. That combined with his previous brain damage…” Simmons glanced between Bobbi, Mac, and Coulson. “I don’t know what kind of state he’ll be in if he wakes up at all.”

 

Coulson nodded solemnly.

 

“If you need anything, Simmons,” Bobbi said. “Just ask. I’m here for you.”

 

“Thank you, Bobbi. That means a lot,” Simmons said with a small smile. “Where is Skye? I thought she would be here.”

 

Coulson and Bobbi glanced at each other. Mac looked at the floor.

 

Simmons looked at Trip, confused about their reaction and wondering if he knew what was going on. But he was staring forward, not giving anything away.

 

“What is it?” Simmons asked.

 

Mac and Bobbi looked at Coulson and he gave them a nod.

 

“We need to get back to the search for Ward,” Mac said. He left the room with Bobbi on his heals. When Bobbi passed Simmons, she gave her a pat on the shoulder.

 

Once they were out of the room, Simmons turned on Coulson again. “Sir, what is it? Is Skye okay?”

 

“No,” Coulson said.

 

Simmons inhaled sharply. “Was she injured? I didn’t know. When we found her with Fitz, I just zeroed in on him because he wasn’t breathing. I had no idea she was hurt too—”

 

“It’s not like that, Simmons,” Coulson said quietly.

 

Simmons drew her eyebrows together, confused. “What is it then?”

 

Suddenly, Trip brought a hand to his eyes and leaned on a table for support. Simmons was immediately worried.

 

“Trip, what is it?” she asked him and put a hand on his shoulder.

 

Trip looked like he was breathing heavily and he was still covering his face. “When we found them…I saw Skye,” he got out. “But I...I didn’t want to believe that happened to her.”

 

Part of Simmons understood what he was saying, but she didn’t want to believe it. “W-what are you saying, Trip?”

 

Trip shook his head and turned away.

 

Simmons turned to Coulson. “Sir?” she asked in a small voice.

 

Coulson hesitated for a long moment before saying, “Ward raped her, Jemma.”

 

Simmons stared at him without believing. “N-no…this can’t…he couldn’t have…” she looked at Trip. He had bent himself over a table and still had his face in his hands. She looked back at Coulson, who was staring at her with a pained expression. That was when Simmons felt the tears rolling down her cheeks.

 

_He raped her. Ward raped Skye._

 

Simmons felt like screaming. She glanced through the glass door at Fitz’s unconscious form. Ward damaged Fitz’s brain a second time and then raped Skye. He killed Miles, Skye’s foster family, the nuns who raised her. He dropped her and Fitz into the bottom of the ocean. He killed Victoria Hand and Eric Koenig. He tortured May. He helped enslave Mike Peterson. Simmons had never felt more hatred running through her veins than she did in that moment.

 

She was consumed with thoughts of how to kill Ward. She would strap him down to a table and cut into him the way he cut into Miles. She was a doctor, she knew where to cut him so it would hurt like hell, but it wouldn’t kill him.

 

There were still tears coming down her cheeks when she fell to her knees. As much as she wanted to focus on killing Ward, the thought of what he did to Skye filled her mind. The tears were coming faster now, and she couldn’t seem to stop them. She hadn’t cried over what had happened to Fitz, and she felt the emotion over that too. Before she knew it, she was sobbing and wailing, the whole base could probably hear her.

 

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. She looked up and it was Trip. There were tears in his eyes too. Simmons couldn’t recall ever having seen him cry. He was usually so strong, always able to keep his emotions in check. But clearly what happened to Skye was getting to him. She buried her face in his shoulder and continued to sob into his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She could feel him kissing the top of her head comfortingly.

 

_I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him…_

 

*****

 

When Simmons had dropped to the floor, Trip had given Coulson a look and nodded at him. Coulson knew they needed to be alone, and he couldn’t bear to watch Simmons cry any longer. He wanted to warn Simmons that Skye had been...denying what had happened to her, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything else. He would talk to her about it later, after she had time to absorb everything. She didn’t need to hear all of it at once.

 

He made his way back into his office to find Mac and Bobbi. They were both looking up at the screen, continuing their fruitless search for Ward. They turned to look at him as he entered.

 

“Did you…tell them?” Bobbi asked.

 

Coulson nodded gravely. He looked at Mac, who gave him a look of understanding. As far as he knew, no one had told Mac what happened to Skye. It seemed he had just figured it out. He had always been good at reading situations, and that was exactly what had happened here. He knew without anyone having to spell it out for him.

 

“How did it go?” Mac asked.

 

“As well as can be expected,” Coulson said as he took his seat at his desk. “Let me guess, we haven’t found a trace of Ward.”

 

Bobbi and Mac glanced at each other. “No, but we’ve been tossing around a theory.”

 

“Let’s hear it,” Coulson said. “I’m all about theories.”

 

“This isn’t really based on anything,” Bobbi said. “But it’s what I would if I were him.”

 

“And that is?” Coulson prompted.

 

“We backed Ward into a corner,” Mac said. “He lost a lot of his men, he didn’t get the plane, and he doesn’t have May for leverage anymore. I’d say what happened was something of a victory for us…as far as victories go.”

 

Coulson took a breath. It certainly didn’t feel like a victory, but he had to agree.

 

“So where does a desperate man go when backed into a corner?” Bobbi continued. “He goes back to something he knows. Somewhere that will welcome him back. Somewhere that can use him while he uses them.”

 

It clicked then in Coulson’s mind. “Hydra.”

 

Bobbi and Mac nodded. “He belonged to Hydra for a long time. They may not like how it’s taken him so long to come back since he escaped, but they will like all the damage he’s done to S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m almost sure they’d let him right back in if he went to them.”

 

“I bet you’re right,” Coulson said. “They have the resources to give him whatever he needs, and he knows things about us that Hydra can use.”

 

“It’s our only theory,” Mac said. “But what do we do next?”

 

Coulson stood up from his desk. “We call in backup.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. I promise more Skye stuff coming up and more plot stuff.


	23. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More plotty stuff in this chapter. I hope you like it!

Skye’s head was killing her. She turned over on her bed and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was 1:37 in the morning. Sleep hadn’t been coming to her easily in the last couple of days. She knew she needed some Advil and pulled herself out of bed. There were plenty of painkillers to take in her bathroom.

 

When she turned on the light she squinted for a moment before her eyes adjusted. She saw how tired she looked in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, but the bruises on her face and neck were starting to go away. She opened up her medicine cabinet and pulled out the Advil, hoping it would help with her headache. She tossed two in her mouth and drank some water out of the faucet to help them go down. She glanced at her face and neck in the mirror again. The bruises would be completely gone soon. She let out a breath and turned off the light in the bathroom, closing the door behind her as she went back into her room.

 

“Trouble sleeping?” came a voice from behind her.

 

Skye whirled around and Ward was there, standing next to the bathroom door. He immediately lunged for her, grabbing her arms and pushing her down on the bed. Skye tried to scream, but he put his hand over her mouth. Before she knew it, he was on top of her on her bed and she was struggling against him. She tried to bite his fingers to get him to pull his hand away. When she looked at his face, she saw that he was grinning. Nausea filled her stomach as she remembered that same look on his face the night it happened.

 

_How is he here? He can’t be here._

 

Skye managed to bite down on one of his fingers and he jerked his hand away. She immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs. Surely someone would hear her and come for her right away. They were in the base.

 

“Shh, Skye,” Ward was saying quietly. He brought his face close to hers. “No one can hear you.”

 

Skye stopped her screaming and stared at him, confused. Then she turned her head to the side and looked around her.

 

They were in the abandoned building. The same building where it happened.

 

Skye’s efforts to get away from Ward doubled as she began to panic. _How is this possible? How am I still here?_ Ward had his hands on her wrists and when Skye glanced down, she saw that she wasn’t wearing her pajamas anymore. She was in the same ripped shirt and pants she had been wearing that night. She looked up at Ward in horror.

 

Ward smiled in return. “You’re still here with me,” he said and leaned down to kiss her neck. Skye desperately tried to pull away from him. “You’ll always be here with me…”

 

Skye began screaming and struggling again, but he seemed to be everywhere. She was pushing and clawing, everything she could think of to fight him off. But she could still feel his lips on her neck and his breath on her skin. She felt his hands running up and down her body. All she could think to do was scream as loud as she could.

 

“You’re here with me…” Ward whispered in her ear. He brought his face back up and Skye saw him grin again and he brought his mouth down on hers.

 

Skye’s eyes flew open and she shot up in her bed. Her hands shot out defensively, ready to push anyone off of her. She turned her head back and forth to look around her dark room and when no one grabbed her, she lowered her arms. Slowly, she realized that she had been dreaming. She reached over to her bedside table and turned on the light. She quickly scanned the room for anyone, even though she knew no one was there. There was sweat dripping down her arms and back and she was breathing heavily. After a moment of staring at the wall, she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and began rocking back and forth. Her breathing was still labored and she could feel herself trembling.

 

_It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. It’s not real. It was never real…_

 

*****

 

Ward didn’t like limited options. He was sitting in a lowdown bar waiting on Hydra like a lapdog because of limited options. Sure he knew he would probably have to go back to Hydra at some point, but his plan was to come bearing gifts. They wouldn’t take kindly to the fact that he’s been off with his own missions rather than coming back to them right away. So he had planned to bring them May and the Bus. Having Coulson’s right hand woman would be a great way to get back in Hydra’s good graces, and the Bus would have been another bonus. But now he had nothing to offer them and they had the upper hand. He hated when someone else had the upper hand.

 

He had gone with the two men who had taken Fitz to the rendezvous point. The men who he had ambush Coulson’s blonde agent were supposed to meet them there with May. He told them if the blonde put up too much of a fight, just kill her, if they could take her down easily, then they would bring her to him. But Coulson, damn him, had shown up with an entire team of field agents before they had finished. He brought in everything, and far faster than Ward had been expecting. He didn’t think there was any way Coulson could have gotten there so fast. But in hindsight, he realized that kidnapping someone Coulson cared for so much must have really put his ass in gear. He got out of Texas after that, and used one of his old Hydra contacts to get him a meeting with someone high up. It took two days for a response, which told him they didn’t want him to think they needed him.

 

His only solace was Skye. She had put up more of a fight than he had been expecting, but she still wasn’t a match for him. She was inexperienced and predictable. Some of the moves she used on him he had taught her himself. But she still showed a lot of promise. He remembered the look of fear on her face when he pushed her on her back and smiled. The memory was still fresh in his mind. Her struggling had only made him want her more. But when she had realized she couldn’t fight him off, she stopped and lay limply on the floor. That made things easier for him. He had taken her face in his hand and made her look at him when he pushed himself inside her. The last thing he wanted was for her to be able to pretend it wasn’t him or pretend it wasn’t happening. He wanted her to know and for her to remember.

 

But despite finally getting what he wanted from Skye, he still had nothing to offer Hydra. Except his knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Coulson’s team, so he would use that for all it’s worth.

 

“Grant Ward,” a British voice came from behind him.

 

Ward turned around on his stool. There were three men standing at the door. One in a suit, he presumed the one who had said his name, who had dark hair and dark eyes. The other two were men in tactical gear.

 

Ward nodded and stood up. He hated it, but he had to make a good impression.

 

“Yes, sir,” he said. “I presume you’re Bakshi?”

 

The man nodded. “If you’d come with me.” Bakshi turned around and started heading out of the bar.

 

Ward was surprised. He had expected to talk to him there. But he followed him out of the bar without a word. Outside, Bakshi was getting into a black SUV. The two men in tactical suits got in the front. Bakshi gestured for him to get in the car. Ward hesitated. He didn’t like other people calling the shots like this. But he didn’t have a choice. He got in the car next to Bakshi in the backseat and closed the door behind him.

 

When the car started moving, Bakshi spoke again, “I’m afraid your reputation precedes you, Grant.”

 

Ward noticed the use of his first name, rather than “Agent Ward” like he would have expected. He realized Bakshi didn’t want to give him any kind of title to imply that he would be working with them again.

 

“Does it?” Ward asked, not giving away any of his thoughts.

 

“Unpredictable and risky,” Bakshi said. “Not exactly traits that are desirable to us as of late.”

 

Ward swallowed. “Well, I’m adaptable.”

 

“Are you?” Bakshi asked lightly. “Well I suppose we’ll see about that.”

 

“Where are we going?” Ward said, revealing his thoughts for the first time.

 

“We’re not having you killed if that’s what you’re worried about,” Bakshi said easily. “That would be counterproductive.”

 

“Good to know,” Ward said with some annoyance.

 

They drove in silence for a few minutes. Ward took note of the passing buildings and the streets. Before long the car stopped and Bakshi was unbuckling his seatbelt.

 

“Come with me,” Bakshi said as he opened the door and got out of the car.

 

Ward followed him out the door and saw they were at some kind of office building. He had seen plenty of Hydra buildings before and knew this had to be one of them. They always hid in plain sight.

 

Ward followed Bakshi into the building. Bakshi didn’t turn back once, like he didn’t even care if Ward was following him or not. Everything about their interaction was meant to show Ward that they didn’t need him very much. It irritated him to be treated that way.

 

They rode up the elevator in silence before stopping on the twenty-third floor, the highest floor. Bakshi got out and led him down the hallway to a set of double doors. He opened them up to reveal an office. Ward entered and Bakshi closed the doors. There was someone sitting at the desk, facing away from him. He approached the desk and stood in front of it, assuming this person is why Bakshi brought him here. Bakshi took his place next to the desk.

 

After a moment, the chair spun around to reveal a man with blonde hair and spectacles. He was sharply dressed, and Ward knew right away that he had to be pretty high up the Hydra food chain. He knew a lot of high-level Hydra agents, but he hadn’t met this man before. Part of him wanted to smile. Bakshi had given off an air of disinterest, but brought him to a man at the top. There was hope for him yet.

 

“Grant Ward,” the man in the chair said. “I’m Daniel Whitehall.”

 

Ward nodded. He recognized the name right away. Garrett had talked about him a number of times. He recalled the description “snobby son of a bitch with a stick up his ass.” But he knew Whitehall was a big name in Hydra.

 

“So tell me why you reached out to us again, Grant,” Whitehall said. He leaned back in his chair.

 

Ward took a breath. “Hydra is where I belong. I’ve made a name for myself here, and I’d like to continue working for this cause.”

 

Whitehall raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well then I must be missing something. We know all about your little excursions. When you escaped from S.H.I.E.L.D. you did a lot of work on your own. The orphanage, the motel in Houston, and you even had one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top agents in your custody, though you managed to let her slip through your fingers.” Whitehall had a hint of a smile on his face. “Grant, it looks to me like you’ve come to us because you have nowhere else to go.”

 

Ward flinched and glanced at Bakshi, who was being less subtle with his smile. Ward wasn’t even sure how Whitehall knew about May, but Hydra had ears everywhere. It shouldn’t surprise him. Part of Ward wanted to lunge forward and throttle the both of them. He couldn’t stand being talked to this way.

 

“Truthfully, Grant,” Whitehall continued. “The only reason I chose to have an audience with you was for Garrett’s sake. He was a good agent, one of our best, and he trusted you. So out of respect for him, I chose to see you. It’s up to you to make it worth my time.”

 

Ward took a breath. He had known there was no way anyone in Hydra would let him back in easily, but he hadn’t expected it to be this rough. “I had…unfinished business with S.H.I.E.L.D.,” he said. “There were some things I needed to take care of. The team I was with, let’s just say they took away a lot of what I cared about. I needed some justice for what they did, and I gave it to them. That was something I needed to do without Hydra, something I needed to do on my own. It was a personal mission, sir. But now I’m ready to return to this cause. I’m ready to be an agent again. I believe my knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its agents will be of great help to you. I can help you bring them down.”

 

Whitehall and Bakshi glanced at each other. Ward hated that he was begging for any kind of help. He hated that his fate was in Whitehall’s hands. But he made the best case he could.

 

“And, sir, my reasoning for kidnapping Agent May was to bring her to you,” Ward put in. “I thought she would be of use to Hydra, especially in your hands. She would never have given anything up, but you could have made her comply.” Ward hinted at their brainwashing program and Whitehall’s eyebrows went up. “But unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up sooner than I anticipated and I couldn’t hold on to her.”

 

Whitehall studied him for a moment. “You’re a lot like Garrett,” he said. “He could talk his way out of anything.”

 

Ward let out a breath. That was a good sign. He didn’t want to beg anymore. It was demeaning.

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ward said with a slight smile.

 

“Why don’t you take a seat,” Whitehall said and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “We have a lot to talk about.”

 

Ward took the seat and noticed Whitehall press a button on his desk. “Bring in some tea,” he said into the speaker. He turned back to Ward. “Well, go on and tell me what you know.”

 

Ward raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know where to start. “Well, you already know Phil Coulson is director. I don’t know how he got the base he has, or where it is exactly, but he does have a lot of resources. The base I was in, I can only tell you it’s underground, and it’s either in or around Washington D.C.” He had figured that out when he escaped from the guards who had been transporting him.

 

“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” Whitehall said. “But it is something.”

 

Ward heard the door open from behind him and looked around in his chair. When he saw who it was, he leaped to his feet right away. May was there carrying a tray with tea on it like it was the most normal thing in the world. Ward saw that she had a nasty scar on her face and momentarily wondered where it came from.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Agent Ward,” Whitehall said and Ward looked at him with confusion. “You two haven’t been properly introduced. This is Agent 33.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scary, scary. Ward working with Hydra again. Lots of bad can come from that. And poor Skye. More soon!


	24. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long chapter for you guys. A gift for being so awesome and leaving such nice comments :) Lots of plot and emotional stuff in this one. Hope you like it!

Simmons had been trying to distract herself all morning, which mostly involved doting over Fitz. She found it difficult to leave his side, even though she knew he was safe. Every time she left she worried he would wake up and she wouldn’t be there. Nothing had changed. He showed no signs of waking up. It felt even less certain than it did the first time he fell into a coma. It was all too familiar. Fitz being brought back to the base and being unconscious for days, none of them knowing if he was going to wake up. She had hardly slept during those nine days and hardly left his bedside. She cried more than she thought was possible. Sat by his bedside and begged him to open his eyes and not to leave her.

 

 _“You’re my best friend Fitz,”_ she had said to him through her tears. _“I need you. You’re my family.”_

 

Less than a year later, he was in a worse condition than he was in before, and there was nothing she could do to help. That was the worst part. She always hated when she couldn’t fix something. All she could do to help Fitz was keep him comfortable and be patient. She wished she could give him some kind of treatment and he’d wake up, but that wasn’t possible.

 

As for Skye, she still hadn’t seen her since they returned to the base the day before. She expected Skye to come visit Fitz, but she hadn’t. Simmons had hardly left Fitz’s side, so she knew it was likely that Skye was steering clear of the medical ward. Coulson had told her that Skye was trying to act normal, like nothing had happened. Denial was a usual response to a traumatic event, Simmons knew this, but she didn’t know how she would react to Skye when she saw her again.

 

“Hey,” said a voice from behind her.

 

Simmons turned to see Trip standing there at the entrance to the medical ward. She was standing at the door to Fitz’s room. She stepped away and approached Trip. “Hi,” she said with a small smile. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his waste and pressed her head into his chest. His arms went around her back and he held her. Simmons liked taking comfort in Trip’s arms. He always made her feel safe. After Coulson told her about what happened to Skye, Trip held her for what seemed like hours, and that night he held her in bed until she fell asleep.

 

She pulled away slightly to look up at him, but kept her arms around him. “What’s going on in the outside world?” she asked.

 

“If by ‘outside world’ you mean the rest of the base then there is stuff going on,” Trip replied. “Coulson and Bobbi took the quinjet early this morning to go pick someone up. I don’t know who, but they’ll be back today.”

 

Simmons raised her eyebrows in surprise. “It must be an agent. Coulson is probably bringing in someone to help us find…” she swallowed, not wanting to say Ward’s name out loud.

 

“Yeah. That’s what I think too,” Trip said. He pulled his hands off of her back and placed them on her shoulders. “There’s something else.” He looked over her head.

 

“Trip, what is it?” Simmons asked.

 

“It’s nothing bad,” he said as he looked back down at her. “It’s just…I saw Skye.”

 

Simmons gave a sharp inhale. “Well…we all do live here. Of course you saw her.” She was trying to hold back all of her questions.

 

“It was just a shock. I wasn’t ready to see her,” Trip said. He suddenly took his hands off her shoulders and stepped away. “She’s not doing well.” He leaned against a table and looked at the floor.

 

Simmons nodded. “Of course she’s not.”

 

“It’s so strange,” he said. “I know this is normal, but hearing her talk like nothing is wrong, like nothing happened, I had a hard time with it.”

 

Simmons stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. “You have to give this some time,” she said. “She’s been through an ordeal.”

 

“I know, I know.”

 

“And you don’t have to be so strong about this, it’s hard on all of us,” she said. “But I’m here for you.”

 

He took one of her hands in his and brought it to his mouth to kiss it. “Thank you.”

 

“For what?” Simmons asked.

 

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said. “You always know exactly what to say.”

 

Simmons smiled. “I don’t know about that.”

 

“You do.” Trip leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Never change.”

 

Simmons put her hand on his cheek and gave him a small kiss on the mouth. “Will you do something for me?” she asked.

 

“Anything,” he said immediately.

 

“Watch Fitz for me,” she said. “I want to see Skye.”

 

Trip raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

 

“I don’t want her to think I’m avoiding her, and I want to see her,” Simmons said. It was true. Not seeing Skye was difficult. Seeing her would help clear her mind.

 

“Okay, of course I’ll watch Fitz,” Trip said. “I saw Skye in the kitchen. She might still be in there.”

 

“Thank you.” Simmons turned around and headed towards the door.

 

She had been thinking about seeing Skye since Coulson told her what happened. This wasn’t something she had ever dealt with before, and she didn’t know how to go about it. But she knew she was probably the only one not to face her yet, and she could hide from this. If everyone else could face Skye, so could she. Skye was one of her closest friends, one of the few people in the world she knew she could trust without a doubt. She owed it to Skye to see her.

 

Trip was right. Skye was at the kitchen sink cleaning up a plate. Simmons assumed she had just finished eating whatever she had cooked.

 

“Hello Skye,” Simmons said when she entered the kitchen.

 

Skye turned and saw her. “Simmons, hey,” she said with a smile. She turned off the faucet and dried her hands on her pants as she approached her and pulled her into a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

 

“You too, Skye,” Simmons said as she tried to smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t come see you earlier, but with Fitz and everything—”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Skye said. She took a seat at the counter and gestured for Simmons to sit in the chair next to her.

 

Simmons hesitated before sitting down. “How are you doing?” Simmons asked lightly.

 

“I’m good,” Skye said. “I’ve been a little sore, so I’m trying to get back into training. But without May, it’s a little harder.”

 

Simmons nodded. “It’s good that you’re training again. Getting back into routine is a good thing.” She was twisting her hands nervously in her lap.

 

“And you?” Skye asked and chewed on her lip. “How’s, um, how’s Fitz?”

 

Simmons glanced at the floor. “Nothing’s changed,” she said. “He’s stable right now, but whether or not he’ll wake up, I don’t know.”

 

Skye was nodding and biting her lip, but didn’t say anything.

 

Simmons took a breath. “I was surprised when you didn’t come and see him,” she said quietly.

 

Skye’s movement stopped abruptly and she took a breath. “I just…I can’t see him yet. You know, it’s my fault that he’s—”

 

“Skye, _no_. It is not your fault,” Simmons said clearly. “Don’t ever think that.”

 

It was quiet for a moment as Skye stared at the floor and Simmons stared at Skye. She was starting to wonder if Skye wasn’t going to respond before she spoke again. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

 

“Skye, are you—”

 

“I’m fine.” Skye turned to look at her again and her smile was back on her face.

 

“Skye, you know you can talk to me,” Simmons said lightly.

 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Skye said with some harshness, but she was still smiling.

 

Suddenly Mac came in the kitchen. “Hey, guys. Coulson and Bobbi are back.”

 

Skye stood up right away and took Simmons’s hand. “Come on, let’s find out who this mystery person is.”

 

*****

 

May had finally convinced Coulson that she was okay to walk and move around the base. He had been very stubborn about it but she finally got through to him. As long as she promised to be careful, she could go around the base as she pleased. May didn’t know what the hell he thought she might do to injure herself again. Did he think she was gonna take the Harley for a joyride? Coulson always worried too much. She tried to convince him to let her be the one to take the Bus out with him instead of Bobbi, but the man was as stubborn as he was overprotective. But she was the first person waiting when the Bus parked back inside the base.

 

Everyone else started showing up, even Skye. May was momentarily surprised to see her. Coulson had told her what happened with him and Skye and that she was avoiding him. But she walked in with Simmons and Mac. Hunter came in with his arm in a sling. He had started whining about being stuck in his room until Simmons said he as fine to walk around. Trip was the only one not there, probably because he was watching after Fitz, May presumed since Simmons was there. They were all wondering whom Coulson was bringing in. May, of course, knew exactly who was coming, and she was excited to see the looks on everyone’s faces when they saw just who it was.

 

The cargo door of the Bus started to lower, and as it lowered, three faces appeared. Bobbi, Coulson, and…

 

“Mike!” Simmons called out from behind her. May had to suppress a smile at Simmons’s excitement. It was indeed Mike Peterson standing in the cargo hold with Coulson and Bobbi. He had certainly had some upgrades. The armor he as wearing was all black. The armor he had worn while under Hydra’s control as bulkier and made it difficult for him to move, this armor was sleeker and designed for mobility. May had worked some missions with Mike since they had started rebuilding, so it was nice to see him again. Coulson hadn’t told anyone else that Mike had become an agent. He was working very much on the down low, trying to track down the worst of Hydra, and hurting them in any way he could.

 

The three of them walked down the cargo hold and May saw Simmons sprint past her and jump into Mike’s arms. Mike was surprised, but caught her easily and smiled.

 

“Hey, it’s good to see you too,” Mike said as he hugged her. He was so tall compared to Simmons that she was lifted off her feet.

 

When he set her back down, Simmons started right in with the questions. “You’re an agent? For how long? Where have you been? What have you—?”

 

“Woah, slow down, Simmons,” Coulson said. “There will be plenty of time for that. Let’s all go to my office.”

 

“I’ll get Trip!” Simmons said excitedly and sprinted off to the medical ward.

 

As they started walking, May saw Skye go up to Mike and give him a small hug. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could tell they were talking. May saw that Mike kept a hand firmly on Skye’s shoulder and couldn’t help but wonder what Coulson has told Mike about Skye’s ordeals.

 

When they entered Coulson’s office, Trip and Simmons were right behind them. Trip was looking excitedly at Mike and went up to him to greet him. Once they were all settled at the table, Coulson took his place at the head and May sat in the chair to his right.

 

“Not all of you know, but this is Agent Peterson,” he gestured to Mike, sitting on his other side. “He helped us defeat Hydra before, and he’s been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since. He’s one of our best agents. Lately I’ve had him chasing after the bigger names of Hydra here in the U.S.”

 

“Is he, like, a terminator?” Hunter asked.

 

May shot him a look but Mike chuckled. “Not a terminator. Let’s go with cyborg. I owe this to Hydra. But S.H.I.E.L.D. gave me some upgrades.”

 

“Anyway,” Coulson brought the attention back to him. “Bobbi and Mac were theorizing that perhaps Ward would return to Hydra now that we’ve taken so many assets to him. It’s just a theory, but still plausible.”

 

At the mention of Ward, May glanced at Skye. If mentioning him had affected her, she wasn’t giving anything away.

 

“I knew if Ward was going back to Hydra, it’s likely he’d want to go straight to the top,” Coulson continued. “That’s why I brought in Mike.” Coulson gestured for Mike to speak.

 

“You know about Daniel Whitehall,” Mike said. “He’s probably the biggest head of Hydra in the states right now. It seems likely that a top agent like Ward was would end up with him. I’ve been chasing Whitehall for a while now and while I don’t know where he is, I do know one thing. His people are planning something, and it’s going down tomorrow night.”

 

“What kind of something?” May asked.

 

“I intercepted one of their messages,” Mike said. “Tomorrow night at some at some gala at a hotel in Philadelphia, a lot of former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will be there. I don’t know what Hydra is planning on doing, I just know they’ll be there.”

 

“That means we’ll be there too,” Coulson said. “Even if Ward isn’t there, we have to stop whatever it is they’re planning to do. Agent Peterson, you’ll be taking charge of the mission. Agents Morse, Triplett, Mackenzie, and Simmons will be joining you. I’ll send another group of field agents as well.”

 

“Me?” Simmons and Mac both said at the same time. They glanced at each other, confused.

 

“Sir,” Mac said. “I haven’t been in the field in a long time. I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

 

“A lot of people are on the injury list, Mac,” Coulson said. “We need you. But if you can’t do it, I won’t make you go.”

 

Mac hesitated and looked at Bobbi. She gave him a reassuring nod. “I guess I’ll go,” Mac said.

 

“And me, sir?” Simmons asked. “Why am I on this mission?”

 

“Agent Peterson has his limits,” Coulson told her. “I need you there to monitor him. He can’t push himself to far. On his usual missions on his own, he can monitor himself, but this is different. It’s bigger than he usually deals with. We need someone else there with him just in case, someone who would know what to do if things went south for him. Not to mention, someone has to be running backend.”

 

Simmons pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. “Of course, sir.”

 

Coulson turned back to Mike. “Well, Agent Peterson. I’m sure you and your team have a lot of planning to do.”

 

“We do, sir,” Mike said and stood up from his chair. “Anywhere besides Coulson’s office we can do this?” he asked the rest of the table.

 

“Yeah, follow me,” Bobbi said and led him out of the room. The rest of the agents on the mission followed.

 

A moment after they left the room, May noticed Coulson looking at Skye, but she wasn’t meeting his eyes. Without looking at him, she stood up from her chair and left the room.

 

“It’s still pretty crowded in here,” Hunter said as he stood up. “I’ll just leave you two alone.” He left Coulson’s office and closed the door behind him.

 

May looked at Coulson, who was still sitting down and looking at the table.

 

“I know you don’t like this,” Coulson said.

 

May shrugged. “I never like when my agents go on a mission without me.”

 

“Mike will be with them,” Coulson said and looked up at her.

 

May nodded. “I know. I am happy about that.”

 

“Do you think Skye’s angry she’s not on the mission?” Coulson asked quietly.

 

“No. She’s angry about what happened between you two the other day.” May said without hesitation.

 

“Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do…” Coulson trailed off.

 

“None of us do, Phil,” May said. “I’m not blaming you. There’s no right way to handle all of this.”

 

Coulson scanned her face. “Have you talked to her much?”

 

May looked down. “Some. But she hasn’t said anything to me about what happened.”

 

“If she’ll talk to anyone, it’ll be you,” Coulson said with surety.

 

May nodded slowly. “I want to go listen to the mission brief. Maybe I can’t go, but I can help them make a plan.”

 

Coulson nodded. “Let me know what they decide on.”

 

*****

 

Sleep wasn’t an option anymore for Skye. After lying on her bed for a few hours, wide-awake, she got up and left her room, grabbing her laptop on the way out. It was just past midnight. Lying in bed in her room all night was torture. She couldn’t bear to sleep and didn’t want to stare at the ceiling anymore. It was best to try and get something done. She headed down the halls to where they kept the Bus. People were less likely to stumble upon her in there rather than in the base.

 

As she walked up the cargo hold, she smiled slightly when she remembered seeing Mike there earlier. Seeing him had been nice. He was someone she knew before everything with S.H.I.E.L.D. even happened, and she always liked him. It was like a breath of fresh air to have him around again.

 

She decided to sit on the table in the room where they used to have all their round table meetings. Back when Coulson would give them a mission and they’d go off and save the day. Things were a lot simpler then. She had come here many times to reminisce. The last time was after everything happened with Donnie, when she had to take him out him or he would have killed May and Hunter. So much had happened since then.

 

She sat up on the table and started looking into that gala in Philadelphia that Mike was talking about. It didn’t take her long to find which one he was talking about. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents there were older and retired for the most part, getting together for some celebration. Skye didn’t recognize any of the names. She wondered why Hydra could possibly be interested in a bunch of retired agents. They posed no threat to them anymore.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Skye jumped at a voice from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and May was standing there. She let out a breath.

 

“God, you scared me,” she said. “I’m just looking into that gala Mike was talking about.”

 

“And why are you doing that so late?” May asked as she approached the table.

 

Skye shrugged. “Why does it matter?”

 

“Because you need to sleep,” May said earnestly. She sounded worried.

 

“The same could be said for you,” Skye turned the tables and looked up at her. “Why are you up?”

 

“I don’t like missions that I’m not on,” May said easily. “I’ve been looking through the mission plans to see what can go wrong.”

 

Skye nodded and looked back at her computer and continued typing. She hoped May would get the hint and leave.

 

“Are you having trouble sleeping, Skye?” May asked quietly.

 

Skye stiffened. She couldn’t exactly lie about this. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “It’ll pass.”

 

“Not if you don’t deal with it,” May said.

 

Skye slammed her laptop shut and jumped down from the table, turning on May. “Deal with what?” she asked harshly. “If you have something to say here, May, spit it out.”

 

May stared at her. “I just want you to be okay.”

 

Skye laughed, but it sounded bitter in her own ears. “Yeah, I hear that a lot lately. ‘Are you okay Skye? I’m here for you, Skye. Please talk to me, Skye.’ I’ve had enough. What _exactly_ do you want me to say?”

 

May didn’t even flinch at Skye’s outburst. “I don’t want you to say anything. I just need you to know I’m here.”

 

“Stop! Stop talking like that!” Skye cried out. “I’m tired of this! Everyone is tiptoeing around me and talking in circles! Fine, you know what, I’ll say what you guys won’t say. Ward raped me and _it’s all I can think about.”_

 

May inhaled sharply, shocked at Skye’s bluntness.

 

“Is that what you want to hear? Do you want me to talk about that? What do you want me to say?” Skye could feel tears forming in her eyes. “Do you want to hear how he ripped my clothes off and held me down so hard I still have bruises? Or how he smiled when I begged him to stop? Or how I knew I couldn’t win so I stopped fighting him?!” There were tears coming down her cheeks as she yelled. “I just wanted it to be over! I wanted it to stop! He made me _look at him_ when he fucking did it.”

 

May was still staring at Skye as she stood there sobbing. She wanted to approach her but got the feeling that Skye needed to be left untouched for the moment.

 

“I just want things to be normal again,” Skye said through her tears. “But everyone is treating me like I’m broken, even you.” Skye brought her hand up to her face and wiped away a few tears. Her lips were trembling and it looked like she was shaking all over. “W-when he did it…it hurt. It hurt so bad…there was blood and he still wouldn’t stop.”

 

Skye looked up and met May’s eyes. For the first time since she knew her, Skye saw a tear falling down May’s cheek.

 

“W-why did that happen to me, May?” Skye said, her voice sounded broken. “How could this happen to me?”

 

May suddenly reached out and pulled Skye into her arms. Skye immediately wrapped her arms around May’s back and buried her face into her shoulder. She could tell she was ruining May’s shirt with her tears, but she knew May wouldn’t care. Skye could hardly hold herself up anymore. They slid to the floor and May continued to hold her.

 

“You didn’t deserve this,” May said, her voice quiet and sad. “No one deserves this.”

 

“Then _why_?” Skye sobbed into her shoulder.

 

“Sometimes bad things happen to good people,” May said, her voice was breaking. Skye had never heard her sounds so emotional. “It’s the world we live in. I wish I could tell you something to make it better, but there are no magic words to make it go away.” Skye felt May’s face push into her hair.

 

“I want to forget,” Skye said quietly. “How can I get away from this, May? Please tell me how.”

 

“It’s not that simple.” May pulled away slightly so she could look at Skye’s face. But she kept her arms around her. She took her hand a wiped away a tear running down Skye’s cheek. “This will always be with you. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.”

 

“How can I live with this?” Skye asked, more tears forming in her eyes. “How can I go back to who I was before?”

 

“You can’t,” May said. She put a gentle hand on Skye’s cheek. “You can’t go back to who you were before. All you can do is find a place for this pain you’re feeling and try to move on.”

 

“How am I supposed to do that?” Skye asked in a small voice.

 

May pulled Skye back into her arms. “I’ll help you.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to get the Bahrain ordeal across here. Like, May had been through a trauma so she knew what Skye was feeling. I hope that came across. More soon!


	25. Defy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait. These chapters are getting harder and harder to write. I hope you like this one. More plot stuff here.

The next morning May brought Skye to the gym. Not at their usual five in the morning training time, but a little later. May came to her room and said, “Let’s got to the gym” and that was it. Skye wasn’t sure what to expect. Her immediate reaction was they were going to continue training, as had become their norm, so she put on her typical gym wear. But when they arrived at the gym, May put a piece of paper on the door that said “Gym Closed” and locked the doors behind them when they entered. Skye knew then that they weren’t just going to train.

 

“Let’s sit down,” May said and gestured to the mats that they usually used for sparring.

 

Skye glanced at May with confusion before sitting down on the mat. May sat down in front of her.

 

May studied her for a moment. “I said I would help you, Skye,” she said. “But I want you to remember that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

 

Skye furrowed her brows. “What are you asking me to do?”

 

May took a breath. “You’ve been doing a lot of repressing. It’s normal. But you can’t continue to do that if you want to move on from this,” she said and paused. “I want you to tell me what happened.”

 

Skye inhaled sharply, without meaning to.

 

“Like I said, you do not have to do this if you’re not ready,” May said and leaned forward. “And you don’t have to tell me everything right now. This is just a necessary step.”

 

“Is this something you did?” Skye asked suddenly. She wasn’t sure where the question came from. It just slipped out. She had been referring to May’s experience in Bahrain.

 

May looked at her for a moment, not responding.

 

“I’m sorry,” Skye said quickly. “You don’t have to answer that. It’s none of my business.”

 

May looked down and closed her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “This is something I did.”

 

Skye’s interest was piqued but she didn’t want to press the issue too much. “How long did it take you to talk about it?”

 

May lifted her head to look at her again. “Months,” she said. “So you can see why I don’t want to pressure you about this. It’s only been days.”

 

Skye nodded. “You’re right. It has,” she said. “But I can at least try today.” She suddenly felt nervous. “Where should I start?”

 

“Wherever you want,” May said earnestly.

 

“Okay.” Skye took a breath and tried to take herself back to where she was a few days ago. “I was following the men who took Fitz to an abandoned building. When I showed up I thought it was just the two men in there with Fitz so I went in. I found him pretty quickly. He…was upstairs tied up in chair with duck tape over his mouth. I remember being relieved to see him.” Skye swallowed before continuing. “I went up to him and he started freaking out. I didn’t know why, but when I got to him I heard a voice behind me. It was…it was W-Ward.”

 

Skye brought her hand up to her eyes and rubbed them for a moment. When she looked at May, she saw a supportive look on her face.

 

“He was pointing his gun at Fitz, and threatened him to get me to put my gun down. So I did. He told me to move to the other side of the room and take my comm out, and he stood next to Fitz. He started saying how he knew Fitz would come to me about everything, and he was saying horrible things about Fitz, about his brain damage, and it made me so angry. I yelled at him and insulted him…” Skye’s voice was getting quieter. “That’s when he shoved Fitz’s head into the wall, and Fitz just dropped.”

 

“None of that was your fault,” May said.

 

“I was so stupid…” Skye said. “Fitz was helpless and I went and insulted Ward. I should have known he would do something.”

 

“You were angry,” May said. “You were scared. Nothing about what happened to Fitz is your fault.”

 

Skye closed her eyes for a moment and opened them before continuing. “I ran over to him, to Fitz. I was so scared. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to know if he was okay.” Skye took a breath. “But when I bent over to check on him, Ward grabbed me and pushed me away. I was just so angry. I wanted to kill him. So I threw myself at him, and that’s when we started fighting.” She was twisting her hands in her lap. “I didn’t really have a chance against him. He’s much more experienced than me, but I did what I could.”

 

Skye pushed some of her hair out of her face. “It wasn’t until he pushed me into a wall that I figured out…what he wanted,” she said quietly. “He lifted my legs up…and he pressed himself into me…and he kissed me.” Skye cringed at the memory of his lips on hers. The taste of blood and metal. “I started panicking. I managed to push him off of me and kick him to the floor. I thought he was knocked out so I went back to check on Fitz. It was stupid of me…I should have gone for my gun or something else—”

 

“You wanted to know if Fitz was okay,” May said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

 

Skye gave a small nod and ran a hand through her hair. “Fitz…he wasn’t breathing,” she said, remembering how scared she was in that moment and felt tears stinging in her eyes. “I was going to do CPR when Ward grabbed me again and threw me into a wall.” She realized she was starting to talk faster. “I kicked him so he fell down too and I got on top of him and started punching him. I hit him as hard as I could. I…I thought he killed Fitz so I just kept hitting him.” She looked down at her hands. The marks from hitting Ward had mostly faded, but she could still see them.

 

“When I started slowing down…he blocked one of my punches and pushed me on my back…and he got on top of me.” The tears that she had felt in her eyes earlier were starting to fall down her cheeks. “I-I tried to get away. I spat in his eye and managed to crawl a few feet away, but he grabbed me again and pulled me back…” Skye could hear her voice trembling. “H-he pulled off my jacket and…and he—”

 

Suddenly she felt May’s hand on her own. “Skye,” she said. Skye looked up and met her eyes. “I think that’s enough for now.”

 

Skye nodded and brought her hand to her face to wipe away her tears. She could see the sadness on May’s face from hearing everything. She was glad May had stopped her because she didn’t think she could continue without breaking down. But it was a relief to tell someone about what happened. It felt like she was lifting a weight off her shoulders, little by little.

 

“What now?” Skye asked.

 

May stood up and held out a hand to her. Skye took it and she pulled her to her feet. “Well, it’s been a few days since I’ve done any training,” she said. “I was thinking you could help me get back into it.”

 

Skye gave a small smile. After talking about something so emotionally draining, training with May sounded like heaven. She wanted something else to focus on. “Maybe I could actually have a chance against you in sparring for once.”

 

May’s mouth quirked up. “Don’t count on it.”

 

*****

 

“I haven’t been on a mission in a while,” Simmons said as she pulled her shirt on over her head. She was changing into something more suitable for a mission. She couldn’t wear tactical gear, but her usual lab clothes weren’t appropriate either. She decided to go with a dark shirt and dark pants.

 

“You’re right,” Trip said as he buttoned his shirt. He was going into the party undercover along with Mac, so he would be wearing a suit. “Not since you were undercover in Hydra.”

 

Simmons shuddered at the memory. “I suppose this is a good thing. Getting back into the field. Especially with everything that’s happened.”

 

“You still sound nervous,” Trip pointed out.

 

“Well, I don’t like leaving Fitz alone. But I know we’ll have other doctors here watching him.” Simmons turned to look at him. He was holding a tie and putting it around his neck. “Let me do that,” she said and approached him. “You couldn’t tie your own tie to save your life.” She took his tie in her hands and began tying it.

 

Trip raised an eyebrow. “Jemma, I’ve been trained to disarm a bomb under pressure in pitch dark with only a paperclip and you think I can’t tie my own tie?”

 

“I don’t mean to bruise your ego, but not everything you do is perfect,” Simmons said as she finished his tie. It looked much better than he could have done.

 

Trip’s mouth twitched up. “You usually tell me something different.”

 

Simmons’s jaw dropped and she smacked his shoulder lightly. “Antoine Triplett! You are filthy!”

 

“I know I am.” Trip smiled and dropped his head to kiss her. He brought his hands down to her legs and lifted her up. Despite herself, she immediately responded and wrapped her legs around his waist as he continued to kiss her. He walked them to their bed and they dropped down with him on top of her. Trip brought his head down and started kissing her neck.

 

Simmons giggled. “Trip, we can’t right now. We have to leave soon,” she said but she couldn’t help but put her hand on his head encouragingly. “We have a mission.”

 

“I know, I know.” Trip brought his head up to look at her. “You’re right as always.”

 

“I usually am right,” Simmons said with a grin. She took his tie in her hands. “Especially about you tie skills.”

 

Trip chuckled and brought his mouth down on hers for a light kiss. “I love you,” he said quietly against her lips.

 

For a moment, Simmons said nothing. His words came as a surprise. They hadn’t said ‘I love you’ yet. She stared at him, lost in thought. She remembered the mission at the motel, when the explosion happened and she thought he was injured or even dead, how terrified she was at the thought of losing him. She remembered the way he held her after Coulson told her what happened to Skye. He held her all night, kissing her head and giving her all the comfort she needed, even though he was hurting too. Trip had come to mean so much to her in the past weeks.

 

She brought her lips up to meet his again. “I love you too,” she said when she pulled away.

 

Trip grinned. She didn’t recall ever seeing him so happy. He kissed her again and they were about to forget all about the mission when they heard a knock on the door.

 

“Guys!” Bobbi’s voice came from outside the door. “Time to go!”

 

Trip groaned and pulled himself up. His shirt was a little wrinkled and his tie was looser. “You mind tying this for me again?” Trip asked with a smile and gestured to his tie.

 

“I’d love to,” Simmons said.

 

Everyone was waiting for them when they reached the plane a few minute later. They were flying to Philadelphia and clearly they had kept everybody waiting. Simmons noted that even Skye was there.

 

“Could to two take much longer?” Bobbi asked when they reached them.

 

“I wish we could,” Trip said with a grin.

 

Simmons smacked his arm. “Sorry, Bobbi. We’re ready.”

 

“Great,” Mike said. “Let’s get going.”

 

“I want you to keep constant communication,” Coulson said. “If anything goes wrong, I want to hear about it. If you see Ward, I want to hear about it.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Mike said. They started boarding the plane.

 

“And hey,” Coulson’s voice called out. They turned around to look at him. “Be safe,” he said.

 

*****

 

When they landed in Philadelphia, Mac and Trip went out first. They were two people they were sure Hydra hadn’t seen before. Their cover couldn’t be blown. Trip used his status as a grandson of a Howling Commando as a way to score an invite to the gala. Sure, it was last minute, but when they heard who he was, they were more than happy to let him in. Mac was posing as his plus one. Simmons, Bobbi, and Mike followed after them a few minutes later, giving them enough time to get in the party. A car with a few more agents followed them. When they arrived, they parked the van across the street from the hotel.

 

“Are we all clear on the plan?” Bobbi asked.

 

“Considering the plan is pretty much just ‘wait until Hydra shows themselves’ then yeah, I’m pretty clear on the plan,” Mike said.

 

Bobbi chuckled. “It’s not like we could do too much without even knowing what the hell Hydra is planning. But it’s all we got.”

 

“It’s better than nothing,” Simmons said.

 

Bobbi nodded. “Mike and I are going to take are places in the parking garage along with the other agents,” she said. They had discovered when making a plan that a parking garage was right next to the hotel, a perfect place for them to lie low. “Two of them will stay here and watch your van. Got it?”

 

“Of course. Don’t worry about me,” Simmons said. “Just go.”

 

Bobbi and Mike nodded and slid out of the backdoors of the van. When they closed the doors behind them, Simmons was alone. She opened up the laptop, what she would be using to monitor Mike and make sure he was okay. She didn’t exactly love being on this mission. This was something Skye would usually do, but obviously it was a bad idea to put Skye back in the field so quickly, especially if they did come across Ward.

 

She cringed at the thought of seeing Ward again. She didn’t know if she could take it. All she wanted to do was kill him. The idea of him running free after what he had done to Fitz and Skye, it made her sick. If they came across him, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to hold herself back from killing him.

 

“We’ve taken our position in the parking garage,” Bobbi’s voice rang out from the laptop.

 

“Okay,” Simmons said. “Trip, Mac, you’ve infiltrated the party without incident?”

 

There was a pause. Simmons knew they could be talking to people since they were at a party and couldn’t blow their cover. After a moment, she heard Mac’s voice. “Yes, we’re in.”

 

Simmons took a breath. This mission was going to require a lot of waiting. The party was supposed to go on for a few hours, and odds are nothing would happen at least until everyone arrived. They were going to be there a while. She recalled her time at the Academy. They did have to take some classes about fieldwork. “Ninety percent of fieldwork is waiting,” her professor had said. At the time, she didn’t think she’d ever do much fieldwork. Her place was in the lab. It was where she worked best. She had never been a particularly good liar, so undercover wasn’t for her. But somehow she had managed to fool Hydra for months into thinking she was one of them. Part of her was proud of that, but it was also sad to think of how things used to be so much simpler, just her and Fitz in the lab together, trying to save the world with science.

 

Over an hour passed before anyone even said anything in the comms again. “Trip, Mac, there’s a problem,” Bobbi’s voice came through her laptop again.

 

Another pause before Trip said, “What is it?”

 

“Carl Creel,” she said.

 

“What?” Trip asked sharply. “That’s not possible. Coulson used the Overkill Device to turn him to stone. He’s in Talbot’s custody.”

 

“Well, he’s not anymore. He’s walking right into the gala,” Bobbi said.

 

“How do you know that’s him?” Simmons said. Her nerves were catching up to her. She hadn’t seen Creel before, but Trip had told her everything she missed while undercover at Hydra. Creel has some kind of power that allows him to absorb anything he touches. She would find it fascinating if he wasn’t working for Hydra.

 

“I just ran his face through my systems,” Mike said. “It’s him.”

 

Simmons pressed a key on the laptop to contact the base. “Director,” she said when Coulson’s face popped up on screen. “Carl Creel is here. He just entered the gala.”

 

“Oh no,” Coulson said. “Dammit. I thought Talbot was keeping us in the loop.”

 

“Apparently not,” Simmons said. “Do you have orders for us?”

 

“Continue the mission,” he said immediately. “If Creel tries anything, take him out.”

 

“Yes sir,” Simmons said and relayed the orders to the rest of the team.

 

“Trip, Mac, what’s Creel doing now?” Bobbi asked.

 

There was a pause. “He’s chatting up some people like he’s supposed to be here,” Mac said. “The guy hosting the event, Danvers, he’s going up to him now.”

 

Simmons could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing up, waiting for something to go wrong.

 

It didn’t take long for it to happen. “BOBBI! MIKE! GET OVER HERE! NOW!” Trip was yelling into his comm. “Multiple agents! They were undercover at the gala! We’re outnumbered!”

 

“On our way!” Bobbi yelled.

 

Simmons was starting to panic. “Trip, what happened?”

 

“Creel just threw Danvers across the—” he cut off.

 

“Trip!” Simmons yelled. “Trip do you here me? Does anyone read me?”

 

When there was no response Simmons slammed her fist into the floor. She knew she couldn’t leave. She knew Mike was alive based on her readings. He probably couldn’t respond because he got into the fighting. She hated the idea of all of them out there fighting while she stayed behind. Creel was dangerous, but she knew Mike could take him down.

 

Suddenly, there was a bang on the side of the van. Simmons was startled. It sounded like someone was thrown into the van. Her thoughts immediately went to Trip, and if he somehow made it back. There was another noise as something else hit the van. Her breathing started to pick up. She grabbed her gun and pointed it at the doors to the van, expecting someone to open them any second. It could be Hydra, but she was hoping for someone on the team.

 

Her hands were shaking as the door slowly opened. A woman stood there.

 

“May?” Simmons asked in confusion. What was she doing here? There was a scar on her face…

 

May suddenly launched herself into the van and knocked Simmons’s gun out of her hands. Simmons cried out and tried to fight back. But May, or whoever the woman was, was ten time the fighter she was. She didn’t have a chance against her as the woman pulled her out of the van as Simmons clawed at the floor and tried to stay inside.

 

When she was outside of the van, the woman held her hands behind her back to keep her still. “What’s going on?!” Simmons yelled. “Who are you?”

 

“This is Agent 33,” a familiar voice said. Bakshi came around the van and stood in front of her. Simmons inhaled sharply. It had been a while since she had seen him. The last time was when she escaped Hydra. He hadn’t taken too kindly to being fooled. “Agent Simmons,” Bakshi said with a smile. “It’s lovely to see you again.”

 

“What do you want?” Simmons spat at him.

 

“I’m surprised this plan even worked,” Bakshi said. “But Agent Ward assured us it would. And here you are, just as he said you’d be.”

 

Simmons cringed at Ward’s name. Now they knew for sure he was back with Hydra. “What plan? Why did you want me?”

 

Bakshi stepped forward and focused in on her. “Agent Simmons, take a deep breath.”

 

“W-what?” Simmons sputtered out, still furious and struggling to get away from Agent 33.

 

“Clear your mind,” Bakshi continued. “Surrender, and you will find meaning. Surrender, and you will find release.”

 

Simmons’s movements suddenly slowed, and she wasn’t sure why. She was listening closely to his words.

 

Bakshi stepped even closer, keeping eye contact. “You know what is best. What is best is you comply. Compliance will be rewarded.”

 

Simmons’s struggling had stopped all together. She was staring at Bakshi intently.

 

“Agent Simmons,” Bakshi said. “Are you ready to comply?”

 

There was a pause. Simmons's eyes drifted over Bakshi’s face.

 

“I am happy to comply.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, a twist! Simmons is brainwashed! You know I love a good twist and a cliffhanger. I hope you liked it!


	26. Crave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I'm saying that a lot lately, but yeah, chapters get harder and harder to write. I have some sweet stuff in here and some not sweet stuff. Hope you like it.

Trip braced himself to hit the ground as he was flung through the air. He hit the concrete stairs of the hotel hard. When he looked up, he saw that Creel was coming at him again. As he got to his feet, he heard shots ring out. His head snapped to the side and he saw Mac pointing his gun at Creel, trying to shoot him. But when Trip looked back at Creel, he saw that he had turned himself into some kind of metal. The bullets bounced right off of him. He turned back to normal before charging at Mac. He knocked the gun out of Mac hands and picked him up, hurling him at Trip. Trip hit the ground again with Mac on top of him.

 

As they scrambled to their feet, Mac said, “I thought this guy couldn't turn into anything unless he’s touching it!”

 

“I guess he got some upgrades!” Trip yelled out. He saw a few Hydra agents who were undercover at the party coming towards them from behind Creel. Danvers, who had been the party’s host, was lying unconscious a few feet away from him after Creel had thrown him there. Trip still wasn’t sure if he was the target or what their goal was.

 

Before Trip could process what was happening, he saw a table flying through the air, heading straight for Creel. “GET DOWN!” he yelled at Mac, and through himself on him. They hit the ground again and Trip heard the impact of the table against Creel’s body. He looked up and saw that Creel was made of concrete and the wooden table had shattered around him. Trip looked to see where the table was thrown from and saw Mike standing on the other side of the clearing. Momentarily, Trip wondered how he had gotten down from the parking garage so fast, but realized Mike had probably forgone the stairs and just jumped down from whatever floor they were on.

 

Creel turned himself back to normal and spun around to face his attacker. Mike began walking towards him. Hydra agents had turned their guns on him and started to shoot. But bullets had no impact on Mike. He brought his arm up to shield his face from any bullets. Trip pulled himself up again and jumped on one of the Hydra agents shooting at Mike. He latched himself onto his back and grabbed his head, putting him into a chokehold. The agent swatted at his head, trying to get him off, but Trip didn’t let go, and continued to squeeze the air out of him. When he glanced to the side, he saw Mac doing the same to another one of the agents.

 

By this point, Creel and Mike had met in the middle and were starting to go at it. Part of Trip wished he could watch two super powered people fight, but he knew he needed to take out as many Hydra agents as he could. When the agent in his arms finally fell to the ground, he felt a kick to the back of his leg that brought him to his knees. He turned around to see another Hydra agent standing there. He brought up his gun and pointed it at him. But before he could pull the trigger, Trip heard another shot ring out, and the Hydra agent in front of him fell to the ground. When he fell, Trip saw Bobbi standing there with her gun out. Trip cracked a smile.

 

“Your timing is perfect,” he said.

 

“I try,” Bobbi said with a smirk.

 

The rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents joining the party made their numbers more even, and considering they had Mike and Bobbi, they had the advantage. Trip saw Mike and Creel still going at it. They seemed pretty evenly matched. Mike was much stronger than Creel and had more weapons, but Creel had the best defense in the world. Mike was having a hard time landing a punch or a bullet when Creel could turn himself to stone or metal. Trip knew there was no way they were going to be able to take him in. Not without any preparation. There was only one way for it to end. Trip knew it couldn’t happen on its own though.

 

Trip felt himself running towards Creel before he could change his mind. Creel had his back to him, and Trip jumped on him and through his arms around his neck. Creel immediately responded by turning to concrete. He easily lifted Trip off his back and threw him to the ground. Trip was staring up at Creel as he approached him. Creel lifted up his foot as if he meant to crush him. Just before he brought his foot down, Trip heard a shot, but not from a gun. Creel looked at his shoulder and saw something blinking there. Mike was standing behind him with his arm up, having just fired. Trip immediately shot up from the ground and bolted.

 

“TAKE COVER!” he yelled and threw himself under a table.

 

Seconds later, there was an explosion. Not a big one, but big enough to harm anyone too close. Trip glanced out from under the table and saw rock sprinkling down all around him, rock that used to be Creel. Trip cringed as he realized that was all going to turn back to skin and blood in a matter of time.

 

Trip stood up from under the table and glanced around him. He saw Bobbi still crouched down a few feet away. “So,” Trip said to her. She looked up at him. “Did we win?”

 

Bobbi stood up and furrowed her eyebrows. “This didn’t make any sense,” she said quietly.

 

Mac stood up from behind her. “What do you mean?”

 

Bobbi shook her head slightly. “There was no goal here. What did they want? It’s like this was just random chaos. Hydra is never random.”

 

“I thought Danvers was the target,” Trip said.

 

“But why?” Bobbi asked. “A retired S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Why would Hydra target him? When they attacked that wedding with the technology they got from the Obelisk, it made sense. But this? This doesn’t make sense.”

 

“I think you’re right,” Mike said as he approached them. “But we can’t talk about it here. We need to leave before the authorities show up.”

 

“You’re right,” Bobbi said. “We’ll let Talbot clean this up. But I’m pissed as hell that he didn’t tell us he didn’t have Creel anymore.”

 

“I’m gonna want an explanation for that,” Trip muttered. He and the rest of the agents began to leave. As they were walking, Trip suddenly remembered something. “Shit,” he said and brought a finger up to his ear. “Simmons? Simmons, are you there?” he said into his comm.

 

There was no answer.

 

Trip inhaled sharply. “Simmons, do you read me?” he said more urgently. There was still no response. “Jemma!” he yelled into the comm. When he still didn’t hear anything, he took off towards the street. The van had been parked close to the hotel and he could see it from a distance. He sprinted towards it as fast as he could. As he approached, he could see Simmons and let out a breath. But she was bent over someone on the ground.

 

“Jemma!” Trip called out.

 

Simmons looked up to see him running towards her. She waved at him. When he reached her, he realized that the person on the ground was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, probably one of the agents who were watching her van.

 

“He’s unconscious,” Simmons said. “But I think he’ll be okay. There’s another one on the other side of the van.”

 

“Simmons, what happened?” Trip asked anxiously. He crouched down to look at her. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine,” she said. “I heard something hit the side of the van, twice, so I came out here and these two were lying here.”

 

“You didn’t see anyone else?” Trip asked.

 

Simmons shook her head. “No,” she said. “I imagine Hydra saw two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and just attacked. Luckily, they didn’t find me inside.”

 

“Yeah, thank god,” Trip said with relief. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. Simmons didn’t do anything for a moment, but she put her arms around him as well.

 

Trip pulled away but kept his hands on her face. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her.

 

Simmons nodded. “Are you okay?” she asked.

 

Trip nodded. “We took out a lot of Hydra agents, even Creel, but Bobbi’s not sure if we stopped them. She thinks this seemed too random.”

 

“That’s right, she does,” came a voice from above them. Trip looked up and saw Bobbi standing there, looking taller than usual. “You think we can get going, lovebirds? I’d rather not be here when the cops show up.”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Trip said and stood up, pulling Simmons with him.

 

“You’re okay, Simmons?” Bobbi asked and looked at the unconscious agent at their feet. “What happened here?”

 

“I think Hydra saw the two agents posted at my van and just attacked,” Simmons said. “I heard them get thrown into the van. When I came out to check on them, no one else was here.”

 

“Well, you’re safe. That’s all that matters,” Bobbi said. “Let’s get back to the base so I can figure out what the hell happened here.”

 

Trip picked up the agent from the ground and pulled him into the back of the van. He saw Mac doing the same for the other agent. Hopefully they’d wake up soon with nothing but a raging headache.

 

Bobbi got on the computer in the van to debrief Coulson on what happened. Mac sat up front to drive the van away. Trip sat next to Simmons in the backseat. When he looked at her, she seemed stoic.

 

“Hey.” Trip reached over to hold her hand. “You are okay, aren’t you?”

 

“I already told you that I am,” she said quickly.

 

Trip cocked his head to the side. “Okay, I know you did,” he said. “I just worry about you.”

 

“That’s not necessary,” Simmons said. She pulled her hand away and turned to look out the window.

 

Trip drew his hand back, hurt. He wasn’t sure what he did to cause to her be so cold. He wondered if it was because he had told her he loved her earlier that day. Maybe that scared her. Trip was suddenly very worried about the idea of scaring her away. After everything, losing Simmons would be too much.

 

*****

 

No one seemed happy when they got back from the mission. Skye could tell they were all on edge. Bobbi was convinced there was something off about the whole thing. That Hydra didn’t have any kind of goal at the gala and there was something else going on. Skye noticed Trip and Simmons weren’t even together, which was odd. Usually after missions, Simmons wouldn’t leave Trip alone. Skye was honestly just happy to learn that Ward hadn’t been there. That had been her biggest fear. That he would be on the mission and hurt someone else. But everyone had emerged unscathed.

 

When the agents who went on the mission met with Coulson and May in Coulson’s office, Skye saw the perfect opportunity to do something she had wanted to do for days. She left the common area and headed for the medical ward. May had told her she needed to do this, and she knew it was long overdue. She hadn’t seen Fitz since the night it happened. Continuing to avoid him would only make things more difficult.

 

She reached the medical ward, the one place she had been avoiding for almost a week now, and saw Fitz immediately. He was in a glass patient room. The same one they put him in the last time he was in a coma. The last time Fitz had been in this condition, her feelings for him were much different. He was her friend and she couldn’t bear to lose him, but now it was different. Now the thought of losing him made her heart break. She slowly approached his room. Visitors were allowed. Most of the rest of the team had come to see him and talked to him. Many people find that speaking to him makes them feel better. Whether Fitz could hear them is always up for debate.

 

Skye opened the door and closed it behind her. Fitz was lying there on the bed with tubes in his nose and down his throat. He looked skinnier, which was normal. He hadn’t eaten properly in days. He was also paler and looked sickly, all things she had expected. She took a few small steps forward and sat down on the chair next to his bed. She started at him for a moment, not sure what to say. She hadn’t exactly planned a speech or anything, but she knew she wanted to say something, even if he couldn’t hear her.

 

“Hi, Fitz,” she said in a small voice. “It’s me. But I guess you already knew that.” Skye chewed her lip, trying to find the words. “I guess I should start by thanking you. You…you tried to save me. You told me to run and I didn’t listen…and then you tried to convince Ward not to hurt me. I wish you hadn’t done that…but you’re much braver than I am.” Skye was starting to feel tears stinging at the corners of her eyes.

 

She looked at his hand lying next to him on the bed. After a moment of hesitation, she took it. His hand felt cold in hers, and she tried to will him to squeeze her hand back and wake up. “I’m sorry this happened to you,” she said as a tear fell down her cheek. “I…this is my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you. I was so stupid. After what happened to Miles…” Skye heard her voice crack. “I should have known Ward would do something to you.” Skye brought Fitz’s hand up to her cheek and held it there. “I’m so sorry, Fitz.”

 

Skye’s tears were coming full force now. She tried to hold them back but they kept coming. It felt like all she had been doing for weeks was crying. Some of the tears dripped on to Fitz’s hand and Skye wished more than anything that he would wake up and wipe them away. That he would hold her and kiss her and tell her everything was going to be all right. But when she looked at his face again, his eyes were closed and he was as pale as ever. They didn’t even know if he would wake up, let alone what kind of condition he would be in if he did.

 

“I need you, Fitz,” Skye choked out through her tears. “I can’t…I can’t do this without you.” Skye turned her head and kissed the palm of Fitz’s hand. “I love you,” she said quietly. Part of her hated that she was telling him this for the first time when he was unconscious and probably couldn’t hear her. But she needed to tell him while he was still alive. If he didn’t wake up from the coma and she never told him…it would be unbearable. Skye used Fitz’s hand to brush her hair behind her ears, remembering all the times he had done that for her. All the moments he had stared at her, wanting to kiss her, but holding himself back because he didn’t know if it was what she wanted.

 

More than anything, Skye wanted Fitz back, in any condition. It didn’t matter to her.

 

“I need you to wake up, Fitz,” Skye said and placed his hand back on the bed. “We all need you.”

 

*****

 

Trip was having trouble sleeping. Part of it was the stress of the mission. Bobbi had him thinking of all kinds of reasons for Hydra’s confusing actions. They had spent a while discussing it in Coulson’s office, and couldn’t come up with anything conclusive. It ended with them deciding that Mike should continue trying to intercept Hydra messages, and the next Hydra agent they come across needs to be brought in for them to question. As for the Creel situation, apparently he had been broken out of Talbot’s custody mere hours before the mission at the gala. Talbot wasn’t even there at the time, and no one was aware that they needed to notify S.H.I.E.L.D. Talbot even seemed sorry.

 

But if Trip was being honest with himself, the biggest reason he couldn’t sleep was because Simmons wasn’t with him. They had been sharing a room for a while now. But she had elected not to join him in his bed that night. Trip couldn’t put his finger on what was going on with her, but she had been acting weird since after the mission. He was worried that he scared her off by telling her he loved her, but she had said it back so that just made him more confused.

 

Finally, Trip tossed his covers off of him and got out of bed. He wasn’t going to be sleeping. Might as well go to the common room and watch a movie or something. He pulled on a shirt and left his room. He moved as quietly as he could, so as not to wake other sleeping agents. Most of them had their own rooms near his. When he entered the common area, he was relieved to find it empty. Sometimes other people would be in there for late night mission planning or movie watching. Once he had walked in on Coulson asleep on his mission plans. One of the funniest things he had ever seen.

 

Just as Trip was about to sit down, something caught his eye. He saw movement down the hall in one of the labs, Simmons’s lab. He figured it was her and got up to see what she was doing in there so late. Simmons was no stranger to late nights in the lab. He figured she might be going to the medical ward to sit with Fitz. Back when Fitz was first in a coma, she had been prone to staying late with him, sometimes all night. As he got closer to her lab, he saw that she was on her computer. He squinted to try and see what she was doing. He had reached the door to the lab but her back was to him. She couldn’t see him standing there.

 

Trip opened the door and entered. Simmons immediately reacted by hitting the power button on her computer so the screen went black and whirled around in her chair. She smiled when she saw him.

 

“Trip, what are you doing here so late?” she asked.

 

Trip raised an eyebrow. That was weird. She shut off her computer like she didn’t want him to know what she was doing. “Couldn’t sleep. I was going to watch a movie but I saw you in here. What were you doing?”

 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Simmons said shortly.

 

Trip cocked his head to the side. “But what were you doing?” he gestured to the computer.

 

Simmons glanced behind her at the computer screen. “Looking into some statistics about people in Fitz’s condition,” she said.

 

That only confused Trip more. Simmons had done a lot of research when Fitz had first fallen into a coma months ago, and she had done it again a couple of days ago. He was confused as to why she’d be doing it again now.

 

“Find anything?” Trip asked, still not sure she was telling him the truth.

 

“More of the same,” Simmons said quickly.

 

Trip had an idea. “Well, maybe I can help you,” he said and approached her.

 

“What are you doing?” Simmons asked urgently, standing up from her chair.

 

“Well, I can’t sleep,” he said as he reached her. She was standing in front of the computer and he was hovering over her. “Let me help you with your research.” He reached towards the power button on the computer to turn the screen back on. Her behavior was confusing and he was mostly convinced she was lying to him.

 

Simmons suddenly grabbed his arm to stop him. Before he could ask her what she was doing, she pulled his face forward and kissed him hard on the mouth. Trip reacted instinctively by wrapping his arms around her back and responding to the kiss. Her hands were around his neck and she hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around his waist. His hands immediately went to her legs to hold her up. She was already pulling at his shirt and he was desperate to get her clothes off as quickly as possible. But he knew there were cameras in the lab. No way was he going to do this in there.

 

“Bedroom,” Trip said against her mouth. She immediately nodded and went to work kissing his neck. He carried her down the hall as Simmons torturously continued to kiss and nip at his neck. His bedroom seemed to be miles away, and he was trying to move as quietly as he could. The last thing he wanted was to be interrupted.

 

When they finally reached his room, they fell on the bed in a tangle of arms and hair. Trip sat up and pulled his shirt off then immediately went to work on her. He pulled her shirt off and reached around her to unhook her bra and throw it to the side. Right away he started kissing her breasts and he heard her moaning above him.

 

“Come on, Trip,” she moaned out. “Don’t hold out on me.”

 

Trip looked up at her. He saw a look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before. This was already far more aggressive than any of their previous times, and that was surprise enough, but now she seemed to be asking for more. He went further down her body to her pants. He made quick work of the button and zipper and pulled off her pants and underwear, leaving her bare to him. He crawled back over her and looked down at her face. She leaned up and began kissing him again, then surprised him again by pushing him to the side and pulling herself on top. Simmons had her assertive moments in the bedroom, but not usually in this way.

 

She looked down at him and started kissing his chest, going all the way to the top of his pants before yanking them off on throwing them on the floor. When she came back up, she slid herself onto him and began to move. Trip gasped in surprise. Usually they took more time to prepare, but clearly Simmons hadn’t wanted to wait. He immediately sat up and wrapped his arms around her. She dug her nails into his back until it hurt. Trip moaned as she started to move on top of him.

 

“Jemma…” he moaned out. “Oh, Jemma…” This was different from any sex they had ever had before. He wasn’t used to it.

 

Trip took charge again and pulled her over so she was on her back, but he managed to stay inside of her. He kissed her on her mouth and continued to move. All thoughts of what she was doing on the computer were gone. He was lost in Jemma, she was all he could feel.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all got that the scene with Trip and Simmons, not romantic. It's really fucked up because she's not even there. He's not even having sex with the real Simmons. It's Hydra!Simmons. So yeah, some bad stuff here. Hope you liked it!


	27. Hollow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to get this one up quicker. Slightly more filler, but it has some important stuff. Hope you like it!

Skye’s eyes fluttered closed as her head rested against her pillow. Her bed had been very inviting after such a long day. The talk with May had been draining, and they went right back into training afterwards. May had been right, she still couldn’t do much to beat May in sparring, even if May was injured. But May was nice enough to go easy on her for a few rounds. The mission had left everyone frazzled and confused. They couldn’t figure out Hydra’s angle. A random attack with seemingly no purpose, sure Hydra liked destruction and death, but there was usually a reason for it. The incident at the gala had no purpose. None of them could put their finger on it.

 

Just as Skye felt herself drifting off to sleep, she felt a hand come around her waist. She smiled to herself as the hand drew her closer. She felt kisses on her neck and she giggled.

 

"Fitz…” Skye said softly.

 

Suddenly the hand roughly turned her over on her back and she gasped in shock. The person in her bed climbed on top of her. “Guess again,” Ward said.

 

“No…no!” Skye knew this couldn’t be real. She closed her eyes and tried to make it go away. Ward couldn’t be in the base. He wasn’t here.

 

Ward began tearing at her pajamas and Skye struggled to get away from him. She tried to push him off. “You’re not here!” she yelled at him. She managed to slap him in the face.

 

He grabbed her hand and held it down again. “I am here, Skye,” he said and brought his mouth close to hers. “You can’t run away from me.”

 

Skye clenched her teeth and glared at him. “You’re. Not. Here.” she spat out.

 

Ward glared down at her. But when he brought his hand down to strike her, Skye’s eyes flew open and she shot up in her bed. She was breathing heavy and sweating, but not as scared as she had been before. She quickly reached over to her nightstand and flicked on the light. No one was there. She was alone. The nightmares were reoccurring, but somehow, she had managed to get out of that one. It was strange. It was like she was aware that she was dreaming but it still felt real. Everything about the dream still made her shudder, and her fear of Ward was still prominent, but it was progress.

 

The clock on her nightstand read that it was four thirty. May would be in the gym waiting for her soon. She got up and began to get dressed for training. It was nice to have a routine again, and that May was part of it. They had spent months training and getting her into shape when May had first become her S.O. She had made far more progress with May than she ever did with Ward. Part of her always wondered if Ward purposefully kept her training to a minimum, so she couldn’t ever put up much of a fight against Hydra. It was certainly a possibility, but one she couldn’t confirm.

 

She left her room and headed down the hallway to the gym. Most agents were still asleep at this time. Bobbi and Trip usually woke up not too long after she and May started training, and would join them in the gym. Simmons was an early riser, especially during the times when Fitz was hurt. Mac always woke up at a reasonable hour. The only late sleeper was Hunter. She always found it weird that a famous mercenary like him would want to sleep so much. Bobbi said he had always been that way.

 

When Skye passed by the lab, she did a double take when she saw Simmons inside. Simmons was usually up early, but not this early. Skye saw her sitting at her computer and stared for a moment. After a few seconds, Simmons turned around and waved at her. Skye opened the door to enter the lab. When she approached Simmons, she saw that her computer screen was turned off. Simmons stood up to greet her.

 

“What are you doing up so early?” Skye asked her with a smile.

 

“The early bird catches the worm, you know,” Simmons said. “I suppose it’s because of the mission yesterday. I couldn’t sleep much. So I woke up early.”

 

“I get that,” Skye said and nodded. “I’m like that after missions. I get restless and can’t sleep.”

 

“Yeah…” Simmons trailed off and glanced at the floor.

 

Skye noticed something on Simmons’s neck and chuckled. “Really, Jemma?” Skye grinned. “You might want to use some makeup to cover those up.” Skye pointed at the hickeys on her neck.

 

Simmons’s hand shot up to cover them. “Oh, I wasn’t thinking,” she said with a blush.

 

“Good to know you and Trip are…back in the saddle.” Skye laughed at her own joke.

 

Simmons turned even redder before looking over Skye intently. “How are you, Skye?”

 

Skye swallowed, not surprised by the question, but not sure how to respond either. Lately, she had just been lying, but she though it best not to this time. “I’m getting there,” she said honestly.

 

Simmons nodded and gave her a small smile.

 

“I should probably go,” Skye said. “May is waiting for me.”

 

“Of course,” Simmons said. “I’ll see you later.”

 

May was waiting for her in the gym. Skye knew what she was going to say before she said it.

 

“You’re late.”

 

“I know. I’m sorry,” Skye said as she approached her. “I was talking to Simmons in the lab.”

 

May nodded and gestured for her to sit down next to her. Skye obliged and crossed her leg towards May, but looked at the floor.

 

“Anything you want to talk about today?” May asked her. Skye appreciated that she was letting her go at her own pace and decide if she wanted to make any steps. She had yet to tell finish telling her about what happened that night. But she wasn’t sure if she was ready to finish that yet. But she could try something else.

 

“I’ve been…having dreams,” Skye said quietly. She glanced up at May, who nodded.

 

“That’s normal. Do you want to tell me what about?” May asked gently.

 

Skye bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s Ward. I dream about him,” she said and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she continued. “They’re all pretty similar. I think I’m safe in my room, but then he’s suddenly there. He pushes me down and says things to me and pulls at my clothes…” Skye trailed off and looked back at May. She was looking at her without any judgment. Part of Skye was ashamed of feeling so afraid, but the look on May’s face made her feel like she shouldn’t be.

 

“I wake up before anything happens,” Skye said. “But it’s…it’s scary.”

 

“Of course it is,” May said and put a hand on Skye’s shoulder. “This is what many people go through.” She paused for a moment. “I had dreams too.”

 

Skye looked up at her. “Really?”

 

May nodded. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you about them.”

 

Skye swallowed. She wanted to hear more but knew she couldn’t ask for that. Instead, she decided to tell May about her most recent dream. “I had another dream last night, but it was…different.”

 

“Different how?” May asked.

 

“I was still scared,” Skye said. “But it was strange. It was like I knew it was a dream. I yelled at him that he wasn’t really there. Then I woke up.”

 

“That’s a good thing,” May said and put her arm further around Skye’s shoulders.

 

“I know…but I don’t feel any different about…all of this,” Skye said and continued to look at the floor. “It’s still hard to talk about it and he still…terrifies me. I don’t know how I did that.”

 

May didn’t say anything.

 

“I was wondering if, somehow, it was because I talked to you about some of it.” Skye looked up at her. “Is that possible?”

 

May pondered that for a moment. “That would make sense,” she said. “You were closed off before, and now you’re opening up about it. That might make you feel safer.”

 

Skye paused before placing her hand on top of May’s hand, which was wrapped around her shoulder. “Then I should thank you,” she said.

 

“You don’t need to thank me, Skye,” May said earnestly.

 

“I do,” Skye said. “Thank you.”

 

*****

 

Ward paced anxiously in Whitehall’s office. Whitehall or Bakshi hadn’t even shown up yet. He was the first one there. He didn’t like being kept waiting, but the two of them had still been trying to make it clear that he was not a priority to them, and it was starting to get old. He knew the mission had gone as planned. It had been a shock when he heard that Simmons had been brainwashed during her time undercover at Hydra, but he knew they could use that to their advantage. They placed a message that they knew S.H.I.E.L.D. could intercept and gave them a mission to go on. He knew Simmons would have to run backend. Fitz was dead and Skye, well, he had the feeling she’d be out of commission for a while. That left Simmons, who made the most sense.

 

He knew Bakshi had managed to activate her brainwashing and sent her back into S.H.I.E.L.D., but he wasn’t aware of anything since then. He wanted an update, and they had told him to be in Whitehall’s office that morning at six. Yet it was six thirty and they still hadn’t bothered to grace him with their presence. Part of Ward wondered why he was putting up with this shit at all. He could easily get some followers of his own again and make plenty of trouble for S.H.I.E.L.D. But then again, Hydra had more resources than he could ever get his hands on. Staying with them was the smartest play, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

 

Finally, he heard the door open and Whitehall and Bakshi strode in. Whitehall walked right past him without a word. Bakshi raised his eyebrows at Ward.

 

“Oh, damn. Did I tell you six?” he asked. Ward narrowed his eyes. “I meant to say six thirty. I’m terribly sorry you had to wait.” The look in Bakshi’s eyes told Ward that he wasn’t sorry at all. The asshole had given him the wrong time so he would have to wait.

 

_I’ll cut your eyes out, you slimy little leach._

 

Ward turned and sat down in the chair in front of Whitehall’s desk. Whitehall had taken his own seat and Bakshi took his place standing by Whitehall’s side.

 

Whitehall pressed the button on his desk. “Bring in some tea,” he said.

 

After a moment of silence, Ward finally asked, “Well? Has she made contact?”

 

Bakshi and Whitehall both looked at him and then at each other. Bakshi looked back at him. “And you are referring to…?”

 

“ _Simmons_ ,” Ward growled. “Agent Simmons.” He was starting to get angry. These two were testing his last nerve by treating him like he was invisible.

 

“Oh yes! I forgot we included you in that,” Bakshi said with a smile.

 

“Well, tell me what’s going on,” Ward said gruffly.

 

“There was a slight complication,” Bakshi said. “She was in contact with us last night, but she suddenly cut out. That was alarming at the time. But she contacted us again this morning, telling us that her cover was secure and she was still continuing our plan.”

 

“Which is?” Ward asked.

 

The door suddenly opened and Ward turned around to see the May lookalike, Agent 33, enter the room with a tray of tea. Seeing May was bizarre, especially since it wasn’t really her. She approached the table and placed the tea tray down for Whitehall. She poured his tea into his cup and he took it in his hand. As she was about to turn around to leave, Whitehall gestured for her to stand by his desk and she did so.

 

Bakshi leaned over the desk to pour himself some tea. When he stood back up, he looked over Ward again. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

 

Ward let out a breath, exasperated, and leaned forward in his chair. “What _exactly_ is your plan? What is Simmons doing inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

 

Bakshi smiled. “I’m afraid that’s classified, Grant.”

 

Ward flinched at the use of his first name. He felt every part of his body catch fire as the two men looked at him impassively. “ _Classified_?” he burst out. “I’m the one who gave you the damn plan to get to Simmons!”

 

“Please calm down, Agent Ward,” Whitehall spoke to him for the first time. “I don’t want to have you escorted out.”

 

Ward took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. It barely worked. But he didn’t need to give these people more reasons to keep their distance from him. “Why are you keeping this from me?”

 

“Quite frankly, Agent Ward, I still don’t trust you very much,” Whitehall said bluntly. “You’re unpredictable and rash. You do things without purpose. You blew up a motel and killed nuns just to make S.H.I.E.L.D. angry. I didn’t even like this mission you planned. Violence for the sake of violence.”

 

Ward’s mouth was hanging open. “I’m sorry, is the leader of Hydra giving me a lesson in morality?”

 

“Everything I do has a purpose. I’m always furthering my own agenda. I have Hydra’s self interests at heart. The deaths I’m responsible for, I always have a reason for them. But you…you kill because you like it.” Whitehall took a sip of his tea. “And that makes me wonder if I can trust you.”

 

Ward was doing everything in his power to hold himself together. He was both angry and confused over this. He couldn’t believe the leader of Hydra was telling him, in his way, that he was worse than him.

 

“The violence did have a purpose,” Ward said slowly. “To gain control of Agent Simmons.”

 

“You’re right about that,” Whitehall said. “That doesn’t make you any less unpredictable.”

 

“I will _not_ betray Hydra,” Ward said. “Trust goes both ways. I need you to trust me or I’ll feel like I have no place here.”

 

“And how much do you trust me?” Whitehall asked.

 

Ward closed his mouth and pondered this. He didn’t trust Whitehall, but telling him that so bluntly wouldn’t be smart.

 

“Right now, not very much,” Ward said. “But we have to start somewhere.”

 

Whitehall examined him for a moment before chuckling. “More and more like Garrett every time I talk to him. It’s eerie.” He looked up at Bakshi. “I suppose we do have to start somewhere. Tell him the plan.”

 

*****

 

Coulson tried to resist banging his head on his desk in frustration. It felt like the more they talked about this, the more confused they got.

 

“Mike, you haven’t been able to intercept any more Hydra messages?” Coulson asked him.

 

“No, sir,” Mike said. “They’ve been radio silent. It was pure luck that I was able to get a hold of the first one.”

 

“Then someone throw an idea at me. What the hell was Hydra doing at that gala?” Coulson asked the room.

 

Bobbi and Mike had been the ones most prominent in the discussion, but Hunter had decided to join him. It surprised Coulson when he spoke up.

 

“Is it possible the mission was a distraction?” Hunter asked. The three of them turned to look at him. He was sitting at the end of the table with his arm still in a sling. He was starting to heal from the motel.

 

“A distraction from what?” Bobbi asked him.

 

“Well, I couldn’t really tell you,” Hunter said. “I just know that if I wanted something done, I’d put all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s eyes somewhere else.”

 

“There hasn’t been any news of any other incidents,” Coulson said. The only news of any Hydra activity on that day had been at the gala.

 

“Then think smaller,” Hunter said. “Not everything Hydra does is on the level of mass genocide. It could have been something else.”

 

They pondered this in silence for a moment, trying to think of something small enough that they wouldn’t have heard a word about it, but big enough for them to want S.H.I.E.L.D. preoccupied with something else while it went down.

 

As they were all wondering this, suddenly, Coulson’s door burst open and Trip was standing there.

 

“Trip!” Coulson said. “You need to knock. We’re in the middle of—”

 

“Fitz is awake.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right! I will FINALLY show you what happened to Fitz...in the next chapter *evil laughter* Hope you enjoyed!


	28. Damage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter! You will finally know what happened to Fitz.

Skye sprinted down the hallway towards the medical ward. Seconds earlier, Bobbi had burst into the gym to tell her and May that Fitz had woken up. Skye had dashed out of the room without thinking twice. May and Bobbi were just behind her.

 

_Fitz is awake. He’s awake._

 

Relief was running through her. She wasn’t going to lose him. But she was also terrified. She had no idea what kind of condition he was in. For all she knew, he was even more damaged than he had been before. She needed answers.

 

When she reached the medical ward, she threw the door open and stepped inside. Trip was standing in front of Coulson, Mac, Hunter and Mike. They all turned to look at her when she opened the door. Skye’s eyes immediately went to Fitz’s room as she stepped inside. She couldn’t see him, but she saw that Simmons was in there. Skye fell in line next to Coulson and Bobbi and May joined her.

 

“We’re all here then,” Trip said with a nod. They looked at him, a desire for answers was palpable in the air. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you much. He woke up less than half an hour ago. Simmons and I were in here monitoring him, and she noticed a change in his heartbeat. Next thing we know, he’s choking on his ventilator and his eyes are open.”

 

“Did he say anything?” Coulson asked.

 

“Not anything intelligible,” Trip said. “He was confused. He got some words out, but he seemed panicked. So we had to calm him down. Once we managed that, I went and got you guys.”

 

“When will we know more?” Coulson asked. Everyone had been silently hanging on Trip’s every word.

 

“Simmons is in there trying to figure out the extent of the damage,” Trip said. “I don’t know how long it will take, but she’ll get some answers.” Trip’s eyes fell on Skye. She hadn’t said a word since she entered the room. She had nothing to say. All she wanted was to see Fitz.

 

“We’ll wait then,” Coulson said. There were places to sit in the medical ward. It reminded Skye a bit of a hospital. As they all sat down, she remembered the last time they were waiting for news of an injured agent, May and Hunter after the motel in Houston. Every single bit of pain they had all gone through recently was because of Ward. Skye found herself feeling angry again. She went in cycles of being angry with Ward to terrified of him to trying to forget he existed.

 

May was sitting next to her and after a moment, she surprised Skye by reaching over and taking her hand. Skye looked down at May’s hand holding hers. It was strange. When May had become her S.O., she saw warmth to her that she had never seen before. But recently, since everything had happened with Ward, May had become more physically affectionate than Skye would have ever imagined. As new as it was, she appreciated it. Part of her was happy to know they had come so far since they first met.

 

An hour passed. Then two hours. Skye found herself checking her watch every minute. She didn’t understand what could be taking so long. But then again, it’s not like she had any experience treating brain trauma victims. Odds are, it’s not easy to find out the extent of the damage. That didn’t keep her from being impatient though. Everyone in the room seemed to be growing impatient. Coulson had started pacing. Bobbi kept staring at Fitz’s room. Hunter’s leg was moving up and down. Mac kept shifting his position in his chair. Skye could even tell Mike was impatient. It was subtle, but he would reach up and rub his eyes every few minutes. May was the only one who wasn’t giving anything away. But Skye knew May wanted to know exactly what Fitz’s condition was.

 

When two and a half hours had passed, Skye finally heard Fitz’s door open and Simmons stepped out of the room. All of them stood up, except for Coulson, who was already standing, and stood together as a group as Simmons approached them. Skye stared at her face, trying to read her. But her expression told her nothing. Simmons looked impassive if anything. That struck Skye as odd, considering her best friend had just woken up from a coma. Last time Fitz had woken up, Simmons had been an emotional mess.

 

She reached them and came to a stop. Trip came up to stand next to her. The room was silent. It was like they were all holding their breath.

 

Simmons scanned all of their faces before she started speaking. “Fitz’s frontal lobe has sustained little damage,” she said. “The damage is more prominent in the temporal lobe, which I did not expect.”

 

“What does that mean?” Skye asked. She couldn’t help but feel anxious. Hearing that anything was damaged was scary to her.

 

“It means that due to the damage in the temporal lobe, he has lost part of his memory,” Simmons said.

 

For a moment, they all stood there and silently started at her, drinking in her words and all wondering the same thing.

 

“Which part?” Coulson asked quietly.

 

“The last few weeks,” Simmons said. “From what I can tell, the last thing he remembers is when I returned from my time in Hydra. He remembers seeing me again, and then nothing. He doesn’t even remember Ward escaping.”

 

Skye felt every eye in the room turn to look at her. She couldn’t feel anything and had no idea what her face looked like.

 

_He doesn’t remember the last few weeks…_

 

The last few weeks had been some of the worst of her life, but in those weeks, there were a few moments of happiness. Most of them were with Fitz. The night in the motel, when Fitz comforted her in the gym, when he attended Miles’s funeral with her…and he didn’t remember any of it.

 

“Is that all he doesn’t remember?” Skye found herself asking. It seemed like everyone looked away from her when she spoke.

 

“There are a few other memories that are unclear to him. A few blank spots,” Simmons said.

 

“Is there any chance of his memory coming back?” Coulson asked her.

 

Simmons hesitated. “It’s possible,” she said. “It has happened in certain cases, but not always.”

 

There was more silence in the room as everyone realized that things with Fitz were going to be even more different than they were before. First he had struggled with speaking and thinking, and now he would struggle to remember.

 

“I can take one of you in to see him,” Simmons said. “But just one for now. I don’t want him feeling overwhelmed.”

 

Everyone turned to look at Skye.

 

“Skye,” Coulson said. “You should go.”

 

“Oh, no,” Skye said. She wanted to, but she knew it would be difficult. “I don’t have to. Mac, don’t you want to—?”

 

“I’ll wait, Skye,” Mac said immediately. “If you want to, it should be you.”

 

Skye took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure how she would be able to handle this. She had a feeling that if she saw Fitz she might collapse into tears. But putting this off wouldn’t make it any easier.

 

“Okay,” she said. Simmons nodded at her and turned around to walk towards Fitz’s room. Skye hesitated for a moment before following. As she took a few steps closer, she could see Fitz through the glass and breathed in sharply. He was sitting up and his eyes were open. He looked as frail as he did the day before when she had come to see him. Skye could feel tears welling in her eyes already when she remembered holding his hand and telling him she loved him.

 

Simmons opened the door to Fitz’s room for her. “Five minutes,” she said. “He needs to rest.”

 

Skye nodded at her and entered the room. She heard Simmons close the door behind her. Fitz looked up at her as she entered, his eyes tired. Skye was frozen at the sight of him. He was awake. He was alive. Suddenly it didn’t matter to her that he couldn’t remember everything. It was selfish of her to think that way. He was alive and that’s what mattered.

 

Fitz brought his hand up and gave her a small wave. Skye couldn’t stand still anymore after that. She moved forward quickly and when she reached him, she threw her arms around him and held him tight. She could tell she surprised him because he didn’t hug her back right away. His arms were at his side before he lightly brought them to her back and hugged her. Skye smiled at the feeling. She was in his arms again. She brought her mouth to his cheek and kissed him, resisting the urge to kiss his lips. When she pulled back, she saw a surprised expression on Fitz’s face. As happy as she was to see him alive, it still hurt to see that he couldn’t remember all the times they kissed and held each other. This seemed new to him.

 

Skye took a breath. “Hi Fitz.” Her voice sounded timid and elated at the same time. She still had her hands on his shoulders.

 

“Hi Skye,” Fitz said. Even her name sounded different in his voice than it had before. Fitz had come to say her name with so much love and warmth, but the way he said her name now was just friendly.

 

Skye pulled her hands away from his shoulders and sat down in the chair next to his bed. “How do you feel?” she asked carefully.

 

Fitz hesitated. “I feel…strange,” he said after a moment. “It’s odd to wake up in a…medicine—medical ward with no idea how you got there.”

 

Skye noticed his stuttering. Of course it hadn’t gone away before this happened, but he had improved. She was wondering if this injury would set back his speech even further.

 

“I imagine it is strange,” Skye said.

 

Fitz squinted at her. “I d-don’t suppose you want to tell me how I got…here.”

 

Skye’s eyebrows shot up. “Simmons didn’t tell you?”

 

Fitz shook his head. “I-I asked but she didn’t.”

 

Skye bit her lip and hesitated. She knew if Simmons didn’t tell him, there had to be a reason. It might be more damaging for him to find out so quickly, and to hear that Ward is still out there.

 

“If Simmons didn’t tell you, then she had her reasons,” Skye said. “I think it’s best to wait.”

 

Fitz nodded and looked away. “I-I thought you might…say that.”

 

There was a moment of silence between them. Skye wasn’t sure what to say and part of her wondered if she should leave.

 

Fitz turned to look at her again. “Why are y-you here, Skye?”

 

Skye furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

 

“The…last time I got h-hurt, you did—didn’t come to see me alone…like this. Why a-are you doing it now?” It seemed like it was a struggle for him to talk that much and he took a breath when he finished.

 

Skye wasn’t sure what to tell him. It seemed too soon to tell him about their relationship, and she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to tell him that at all. Fitz was staring at her intently, waiting for her answer.

 

“The last couple of weeks…” Skye started. She looked at Fitz’s face and tried to decide what to tell him. She didn’t have to think for long. “We’ve just been closer, Fitz,” Skye finished her sentence. “I was so worried about you when this happened.”

 

Fitz scanned her face for a moment, as if trying to decide if he believed her. After a moment, he nodded. “I’m sorry I can’t remember that,” he said.

 

Skye reached over and took his hand in hers. “It’s not your fault,” she said.

 

Their eyes locked and Fitz’s blue eyes stared into her brown eyes. Skye squeezed his hand tighter, as if she could will him to remember everything. Fitz continued to stare at her and he tilted his head to the side, as if he was thinking about something. Skye felt his thumb stroke the top of her hand and the feel of it made her want to cry. It was the first time since she entered the room that he initiated contact. She wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss him.

 

Fitz opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get a word out, there was a knock on the door. They both looked over and Simmons was standing there. She gestured for Skye to leave the room.

 

When Skye looked back at Fitz, he pulled his hand away and he wasn’t looking at her anymore. Whatever was happening in that brief moment of eye contact was gone. Skye felt tears stinging in her eyes again.

 

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Fitz,” she said quietly as she stood up.

 

“Thank y-you for coming to see me,” Fitz replied. The unfamiliarity was back in his eyes.

 

Skye nodded and turned around to leave the room. She didn’t look back, worried that if she did, she would throw herself at him and beg him to remember. She left the room and closed the door behind her. When she turned around, she saw that Coulson and May were standing there waiting for her. They both had expressions of sympathy and sadness on their faces.

 

Without thinking, Skye stepped forward and threw her arms around Coulson. He hugged her back without hesitating. Things had been distant between them ever since their discussion in his office, but Skye didn’t want things to be that way anymore. With everything that was happening, she needed him too.

 

Coulson brought his hand up to her hair and continued to hold her. Skye felt the tears streaming down her face and heard herself sobbing. She buried her face into his shoulder and allowed herself to let it out. Then there was another hand on her arm. She turned and saw that May was there. Skye reached over and pulled her into the hug. May was surprised, but she didn’t resist.

 

The three of them stood there in the medical ward, holding each other.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of sad stuff in this one. Hope you enjoyed. I thought about including plot stuff, but I decided to just focus on Fitz and Skye.


	29. Sheep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I know I haven't updated in a while. I've gotten busy with school. But here's a long and plotty chapter for you guys!

Coulson was trying to keep himself from slamming his head into his desk. He kept his face in his hands and tried to focus on his breathing. Skye and May had returned to the gym and he went back to his office after everything in the medical ward with Fitz. The look on Skye’s face when she came out of Fitz’s room was seared into his mind. She looked so crushed. Coulson couldn’t help but think of Audrey. It was hard enough that he couldn’t be with her, but the thought of her not even remembering the time they spent together was too terrible to even contemplate.

 

He hoped Skye would be able to build something with Fitz again, but he wasn’t sure if she would want to. He kept his distance from Audrey to keep her safe. Being with her put her in danger. Skye being with Fitz brought on Ward’s wrath. He could imagine that she wouldn’t want to do that again.

 

 _Ward_. Coulson felt his jaw clench at the thought of him. If he could he would do to him what he had done to Fitz _twice_ now. He would put him through everything that he had put May through. What he had done to Skye…he deserved to suffer for that. Mercy was the last thing Coulson had in mind the next time he saw him.

 

There was suddenly a knock on Coulson’s door. Coulson looked up and brought his hands away from his face. “Come in,” he called.

 

When Simmons stepped into the room, Coulson immediately stood up, worried. “Simmons,” he said quickly. “Is Fitz okay? Did something happen—?”

 

Simmons held out her hands. “Sir, sir, everything is fine,” she said calmly.

 

Coulson let out a breath in relief and sat back down.

 

Simmons lowered her hands and closed the door behind her. “I’m sorry to worry you like that. Nothing’s happened.” She approached his desk and stood in front of him.

 

After taking another breath, Coulson spoke again. “I’m glad to hear it. I don’t think I could take any more bad news today.”

 

Simmons nodded and looked down. Coulson noticed that she was clasping her hands together and swaying slightly. She looked nervous.

 

“Are _you_ okay, Jemma?” Coulson asked lightly. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have your best friend wake up from a coma a second time with more sustained damage. If this had happened to May or Fury, he wasn’t sure how he would handle it. The fact that Simmons was still able to stand on two feet was remarkable to him.

 

“I’m fine, sir,” Simmons said and chewed on her lip. “I just came to ask you for something.” She looked up and met his eyes.

 

Coulson leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk. “Anything, Jemma. What is it?”

 

“It…it’s very difficult for me to be here right now,” Simmons said quietly. “I would just like to ask if I could leave the base for the night. You do allow us to do so occasionally.”

 

She was right. A couple of times early on May had asked to leave the base and stay in a hotel for the evening for her own time. What she did when she was away, he did not know. It wasn’t long after that before Skye had asked for the same thing. Trip had maybe asked twice. It wasn’t something any of them did regularly, just when they needed time to themselves. Simmons had never asked him for this. Coulson couldn’t help but be confused at the timing. He would have thought she wouldn’t want to leave Fitz’s side, especially not on the day he woke up.

 

“You don’t want to stay to keep an eye on Fitz?” Coulson asked the question that was on his mind.

 

Simmons glanced down. “I’ve done this before, sir,” she said timidly. “I remember how difficult it was the first time he woke up. I just…I need to be away. Just for an evening. He will be well looked after while I’m gone.”

 

Coulson swallowed. “I’m not sure this is a very good idea, honestly,” he said slowly. “With Ward and Hydra out there, you shouldn’t be going alone.”

 

“I thought you would say that,” she said. “But sir, I’ll be in the hotel the entire time, surrounded by people. The only people who would know I’m going are right here. I understand your worry, but how could anything possibly happen?”

 

Coulson scanned her face. From what he could tell, she just looked sad and nervous. But to him, asking what could go wrong is a recipe for disaster. She did have a point though that she would be somewhere safe and at the moment, it seemed he was the only one who knew she was going anywhere. He wasn’t in any place to judge what someone needs when they’re in her position.

 

After a moment, he nodded. “Of course you can go tonight, Jemma,” he said. “I’ll book you a room at the Hyatt.” That was their usual hotel for any agent who needed a night away.

 

“Thank you, sir,” Simmons said with a small smile.

 

*****

 

Trip was wondering where Simmons was before he decided to check in her room. She had disappeared out of the medical ward after a while and he wasn’t sure why. It was odd considering she was usual all over Fitz when he got hurt, but she had been a bit more dethatched this time. Trip tried not to read into it too much. Everyone deals with pain in different ways.

 

When he reached her door, he knocked and half expected no answer. So he was surprised when the door opened and Simmons was standing there.

 

She smiled. “Hi, Trip,” she said and turned around to walk back in her room.

 

Trip raised his eyebrows and followed her. He closed the door behind him and when he turned around he immediately noticed a small bag on her bed with clothes stacked next to it. It looked like she was packing. He furrowed his brows and looked at Simmons who was folding a shirt and putting it in the bag.

 

“Are you going somewhere?” Trip asked, confused.

 

“Yes,” Simmons said easily. “Coulson gave me permission to spend tonight away from the base.”

 

Trip’s mouth was hanging open slightly. “ _Why?_ ” Trip didn’t mean it to sound harsh, but it did. He was getting more confused every second. She just wanted to leave when Fitz finally woke up? And with Hydra running amuck? He couldn’t think of a worse idea.

 

Simmons looked at him again. “Like I told Coulson, everything going on around here has been overwhelming. With Ward, the mission, Fitz…I just need some time. I just need one night to myself.”

 

“Last time Fitz woke up, you couldn’t be away from him for more than a few minutes,” Trip pointed out.

 

Simmons sighed. “Things change, Trip. Fitz and I have been distant lately as it is.”

 

Trip was about to throw up his arms in bewilderment. Just a few days ago, she could hardly bear to go on a mission while he was in a coma. Now she just wanted to leave the day he woke up? None of this was making any sense to him, but part of him tried to understand. It had been a really overwhelming day.

 

“Okay, well…I’ll miss you while you’re gone,” Trip said.

 

Simmons looked at him again and turned to face him. For a moment she stared but then she reached down and started unbuttoning her shirt.

 

Trip’s eyebrows shot up and his hands immediately went to hers to stop her. She was already halfway down her shirt and Trip could see her bra from under her shirt. “Woah, woah. What are you doing?” he asked.

 

Simmons looked up at him. Now she looked confused. “I thought…I thought you wanted…”

 

“What, just because I said I’ll miss you?” Trip asked. It’s not that the sight Simmons unbuttoning her shirt made him want to run away, but it was strange that she did it so suddenly, and on a day that had been emotionally draining for both of them.

 

“That’s…that’s what he would say…” Simmons glanced at the floor.

 

Trip was still holding her hands. He tightened his hands around hers. She wasn’t making sense anymore. “What are you talking about, Jemma?”

 

Simmons head quickly snapped up again. She stared blankly for a second, but then she chuckled and there was a smile on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what I was saying. It’s just been a crazy day, you know.” She began buttoning her shirt again and went back to packing.

 

Trip stared at her. “Well, I’m gonna go back to the medical ward,” he said and backed up. "Come and find me when you’re leaving, okay?”

 

“Of course,” Simmons said and smiled at him again.

 

Trip left the room and closed the door behind him. He wasn’t going to the medical ward; he wanted to talk to Coulson about why the hell he was letting Simmons out of the base with everything going on. Not to mention her behavior. What just happened was weird, and she had been acting weird for days. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

 

Trip knocked on Coulson’s door and opened it before he had the chance to respond. Coulson looked up at him as he entered.

 

“Come in then,” Coulson said.

 

Trip shut the door behind him. “Why are you letting Simmons out of the base?” he asked as he marched up to Coulson’s desk. “You know it’s not safe out there.”

 

“I do know that,” Coulson said with a nod. “But at the moment, you and I are the only ones who even know she’s going anywhere. I don’t plan on reporting that to Hydra, and I assume you don’t either.”

 

“Hydra has been one step ahead of us for weeks now. I wouldn’t be shocked if they had a way of figuring this out,” Trip shot back. “Director, none of us are safe out there.”

 

“You know, I wish you had waited a few more minutes before hearing about this, because I was about to call you into my office about it anyway,” Coulson said as he leaned back in his chair.

 

Trip inhaled sharply. “Why?” he asked.

 

“Because I want you to go with her,” he said. Trip was about to respond before Coulson cut him off. “I know she wants to be alone, but you just simply need to watch the hotel. Or if you wanted to get a room there. I don’t care how you do it, I just want to make sure she’s safe, so I’m sending you to watch her.”

 

“Really, sir?” Trip asked. He already felt relief running through him.

 

“Of course,” Coulson said. “Besides, you might have gone with her anyway if I didn’t tell you to do it. And I can’t send a whole team with her without her noticing.”

 

Trip’s mouth quirked up. He couldn’t argue with that. “Thank you, sir.”

 

Coulson nodded.

 

Trip bit his lip and hesitated. There was more on his mind. “Sir, can I ask you something?”

 

“Yes,” Coulson said.

 

“Have you noticed any change in Simmons lately?” he asked. “I don’t know, I might be imagining it, but she just seems different.”

 

Coulson paused for a moment before giving a very curt nod. “I have noticed,” he said quietly. “I’ve chalked most of it up to what happened to Fitz. Do you think it’s something else?”

 

Trip shrugged. “I don’t know. I really don’t,” he said honestly. “It’s just strange is all.”

 

“I agree,” Coulson said. “But maybe tonight will change that.”

 

Trip nodded.

 

“She’ll probably be leaving soon,” Coulson said and gestured to the door. “You should get ready to follow.”

 

*****

 

Hours later, Trip found himself parked across the street from the Hyatt. He had watched Simmons go into the building a long time ago. He considered getting a room in there himself, but he figured the best way to see if anything was going on would be from the outside. He could also keep track of if she went anywhere. So far, she hadn’t moved, just like she said.

 

Trip hardly expected anything to happen, but after the last few weeks, it didn’t hurt to take precaution. It always seemed like Hydra and Ward knew what they were doing. Going off alone just seemed like a bad idea to him. Last time Fitz went off alone, he came out with more brain damage. May was alone in the hospital when Ward took her. Skye went after Fitz alone and Ward…he didn’t want to think about that. There was safety in numbers, and though he wasn’t with Simmons at the moment, he felt better knowing he was close to her, ready to protect her if anything went wrong.

 

Though he always hated the lookout job. Garrett had given it to him a number of times. A lot of waiting and watching. He remembered the time he fell asleep, Garrett had never let him hear the end of that one. Trip started gritting his teeth at the thought of him. If it weren’t for Garrett, Ward wouldn’t be one of their many problems. Part of Trip was still angry with himself for not knowing about Garrett. He had worked with him for a long time and never known. Hydra was everything he hated. The thought of the people who his grandfather had fought were still out there was sickening to him. If he could, he would wipe out every single one of them.

 

Trip saw someone exiting the hotel, a woman in a red dress. He glanced away, but then his eyes went right back to the woman as recognition washed over him. It was Simmons. She was leaving the hotel. His heart rate started to pick up. What was she doing? She wasn’t supposed to leave. She told him she would stay in the hotel. What she was wearing also threw him. He had never seen that dress before. Simmons was very reserved. He wasn’t sure if he had ever really seen her dress up. But the red dress she was wearing was anything but modest. It accentuated her features perfectly. It was clingy, only came down to the middle of her thighs, and there were no straps. She had her hair down and it was curly. Under different circumstances, Trip would be drooling at the sight of her, but he what he wanted to know was what the hell she was doing leaving the hotel.

 

She wasn’t outside for long before a limousine parked in front of her and she got inside without any hesitation. Trip immediately started the ignition and when the limo pulled out of the hotel, he followed. He knew that if he was following someone, he always needed to try and keep two cars in between him and the car he was following at all times. The last thing he wanted was for someone to notice he was following. He became more and more bewildered as he followed the limo. He had no idea what Simmons was doing.

 

After a few minutes of driving, the limo pulled up in front of The Capital Grille. Trip knew from time in Washington D.C. that it was one of the nicest restaurants in the city. One of the men at the front door opens up the limo door and Simmons steps out. She says something to him and he leads her inside the restaurant. He let out a breath and assumes that Simmons had just decided to get dinner, but part of him was still confused. Why would she have dinner out? She knew it wasn’t safe to leave the hotel. And Simmons was not the type to get dressed up for anything, let alone for a solo dinner.

 

Trip was confused enough to want to investigate. He knew that if Simmons saw him, she’d be furious, but he couldn’t help it. Something about this was off and he needed to know what was going on.

 

He parked the car across the street from the restaurant and got out. He was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. He knew the guys at the front were going to be happy to let him in, but he already knew how to handle that.

 

When he approached the doors, as he expected, the two men standing there looked at him strangely and moved to block his path.

 

“Do you have a reservation, sir?” one of them asked curtly as he looked him over.

 

Trip pulled something out of his pocket. “Metro PD,” he said and showed them his police badge. “I need to enter the restaurant for an investigation.”

 

The two men suddenly looked nervous. “Is something going on? Is there someone in there?” the other guy asked.

 

“There’s no need to panic,” Trip tried to calm them. He didn’t need them causing a scene. “I’m just following up on a lead.”

 

“Yes, sir,” the first guy said. “You go ahead in there.” They moved out of his path.

 

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Trip said and moved past them. He still got a thrill out of undercover work like that.

 

The Capital Grille was a big place. Finding Simmons would be enough of a challenge, but he also had to make sure she didn’t see him before he saw her. He weaved through the tables and around the corners, trying to spot the woman in red and noticing a lot of confused looks he was getting from customers because of his clothes.

 

Finally, Trip spotted her. Right as he did, he concealed himself behind a wall so she couldn’t see him. She was facing him, sitting at a table in the corner of the restaurant. But she wasn’t alone. There was a man sitting across from her. His back was turned to him so Trip couldn’t see who it was. Whoever it was had dark hair and was tall. Trip felt anger boiling inside him. What was Simmons doing here with him? Was that what this was about? She was with someone else now? She had been acting so strange lately the way she was hiding things from him and seemed distant from everybody, maybe it was true.

 

Trip tried to get a better look at him but he just couldn’t see him from this angle. He tried to will the man to turn around so he could get a good look at him. A few waiters stopped and asked what he was doing, Trip showed him his badge and that shut them up quickly. He was still glaring at the back of the man’s head, hoping he’d turn around, even for a second. He looked at Simmons’s face. She was smiling, she looked happy. Somehow, she seemed more relaxed than she had in the last couple of days. That just made Trip feel sad. Maybe she wasn’t happy with S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore.

 

The waiter showed up and their table, and the man Simmons was with turned and looked at him. Trip almost shouted when he saw the man’s face.

 

 _Bakshi_.

 

Simmons was with Bakshi. What was she doing there? She couldn’t be…no…it’s not possible. Simmons wasn’t Hydra. After everything they had done, she couldn’t be. There was no way. Unless…

 

Trip’s eyes widened as the realization dawned on him. Brainwashing. Simmons must have been brainwashed. Someone must have activated it somehow. _When did this start? When did she first start acting strange?_ Trip didn’t need to think about it for long.

 

The mission.

 

His mind was racing too fast. He couldn’t stay in the restaurant any longer or he would blow his cover. He quickly weaved his way around tables and people so Simmons or Bakshi wouldn’t see him. Once he was back outside, and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

 

One of the men from the door came up to him “Hey, so is everything—?”

 

“You’re all fine,” Trip said as he walked away.

 

Once he got across the street, he jumped in his car and stared and the restaurant. It was the mission they went on. Simmons had told him that the two men that were guarding her van had been knocked out, but they didn’t find her. That wasn’t true. They must have found her and activated her brainwashing. She had been a mole inside the base ever since, and she couldn’t do anything to stop herself. There was no telling what information she was giving Bakshi right in that moment. But one thing was certain, he needed to tell Coulson.

 

Trip pulled out his phone and punched in Coulson’s number. On the second ring, Coulson answered.

 

“Trip, what is it?” Coulson asked him.

 

“Sir, Simmons is with Bakshi,” Trip cut right to the chase.

 

There was silence. Coulson said nothing for what felt like an entire minute. Trip gave him all the time he needed to contemplate what he had just said.

 

“She’s…she couldn’t be…” Coulson finally said.

 

“I think she’s been brainwashed, sir,” Trip said. “On our mission, she told us that the two men stationed at her van were knocked out but that’s not all that happened. They knocked out those men and activated her brainwashing,” Trip told him. “Simmons has been acting strange ever since that mission. It’s the only explanation.”

 

“I think you’re right,” Coulson said quietly.

 

“What do you want me to do, sir?” Trip asked. “Right now, Simmons is inside a restaurant with Bakshi. I found her with him when I went in. What now?”

 

“Hydra will want her to come back to the base,” Coulson said. “It’s too perfect for them to pass it up. So right now, I don’t want you to do anything. Just watch her and follow them. If anything changes, you tell me right away.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Trip said.

 

“I’m going to alert the rest of the team,” Coulson said and hung up the phone.

 

Trip put his phone away and watched the restaurant. It was scary to think about what Simmons was telling Bakshi. She knew everything about them. Hell, she knew where the base was. That was enough to get put them in the worst possible situation. Let alone what she knew about all of them individually. She was their doctor. Simmons was probably the perfect person to put inside of their base, because she knew everything about them and was one of their most trusted agents.

 

Trip tried to think about when this might have happened. Hydra must have somehow figured out she was a mole when she was with them, and they brainwashed her. He was horrified at the idea of it. He didn’t know everything about the process, only rumors, particularly about that winter soldier guy and Donnie. They say a few words to you and bam; you’re under their control. But he knew it was a painful process as well.

 

He realized then why the mission at the gala hadn’t made any sense. Bobbi hadn’t understood why Hydra seemed to have no greater goal on that mission, but they did, it was Simmons, and they just didn’t know about it.

 

After about an hour of staring at the restaurant doors and agonizing over what Simmons was telling Bakshi, he saw the two of them walk out of the doors together. Trip felt his stomach turn when he saw that Bakshi had his hand on Simmons’s back and Simmons was actually leaning into him. It only got worse once they stopped and Bakshi pulled her close to him. Simmons didn’t stop it. In fact, she smiled. Bakshi’s lips suddenly came down on hers and her hands immediately went to his face to kiss him back.

 

Trip gripped the steering wheel until his hands felt numb. It was all he could do not to jump out of his car and shoot Bakshi in the head right then and there. _He’s not just using her for information._ He felt like he was going to puke.

 

They finally broke apart when the limo pulled up to the curb, but to his distress, they both got in rather than just Simmons. Like before, he followed them, two cars behind the whole time, back to the hotel.

 

The two of them got out of the car together and entered the hotel as the limo drove away. Trip wasn’t sure how he managed to restrain himself from following them inside and stopping them. He had to follow Coulson’s orders. Attacking Bakshi might lead to Simmons getting killed. He couldn’t just storm in there, guns blazing. The odds were that Bakshi had the place lined with Hydra agents anyway. There was nothing he could do but watch Bakshi walk into the building with Simmons, and hope he was the one who would end him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Poor Simmons. Poor Trip. Poor everyone. I wasn't too sure if I wanted to do this to Simmons, but I really do feel like Hydra uses their brainwashed agents for just about every purpose, even gross ones like I illustrated here. It just felt the most realistic.


End file.
